Lambert-St Louis airport calls on China to revive 'Aerotropolis' scheme

MISSOURI's Lambert-St Louis International Airport, together with St Louis County and the American Society of Transportation and Logistics, were part of another trade mission to China to revive the shelved "Aerotropolis" scheme to set up regular air cargo service between China and the US Midwest.

They met business leaders in Shanghai, Beijing, Hangzhou and Nanjing, and signed a memorandum of understanding in Shanghai to pursue trade opportunities between the two countries, reported Atlanta-area Air Cargo World.

The lobby managed to get a China Cargo Airlines freighter to fly weekly to Lambert-St Louis in September 2011, but the carrier pulled out when Missouri legislators turned down US$360 million in tax breaks promised in initial negotiations.

Without this compensation for the lack of westbound payload China Cargo Airlines ended scheduled services.

The "Aerotropolis" scheme, one of several competing schemes proposed by rival American Midwest airports, became controversial and was called a "boondoggle" and an impractical pipedream, and eventually put on hold as the heated national elections approached.

But St Louis World Trade Centre executive director Tim Nowak said the state of Missouri alone would export more than $1 billion worth of goods to China this year, and said there was no reason why that figure could not double or triple if Lambert developed appropriate facilities.