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Rickenbacker Airport gains new lease on life as an all-cargo hub

DEDICATED cargo airports may look good on paper, but often have trouble succeeding in the real world, the New York's Air Cargo World reports.

By eliminating the clutter of passenger operations to focus specifically on the needs of air freight, all-cargo airports have been marketed for decades in the US as havens for cargo carriers and shippers that are tired of the congestion and expenses encountered in major gateways such as Chicago O'Hare or New York's JFK.

This certainly is the belief of Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways. "I'm absolutely convinced it's got a future," said Cathay cargo chief Mark Sutch.

"Our entrance into Rickenbacker was very much through the backdoor of a particular client. We were able to bring in 50 tonnes a few times per week from Hong Kong on the back of an extended service from Chicago."

The first quarter of 2016 was Cathay's largest on record at Rickenbacker, with more than 2,000 tonnes moved through the airport, or 20.4 per cent more than the same quarter in 2015.

For a long time, that was true of Rickenbacker International Airport (LCK), a dedicated cargo airport located 10 miles south of downtown Columbus, near the city of Lockbourne, Ohio, which was he home of L Brands, owner of major retail brands such as Victoria's Secret, Pink, Bath & Body Works, Henri Bendel and La Senza, central Ohio has long been a magnet for fashion imports from Europe and Asia.

But since trade flows in Columbus were mostly a one-way street, shippers could never achieve significant outbound air freight volumes.

However, today LCK may be one of the few facilities to break the all-cargo airport curse and become a major international logistics centre, not only for imports, but for exports as well.

It has taken years of careful planning and cooperation between LCK stakeholders, both public and private, to put Rickenbacker on track to becoming a major gateway option for freight forwarders and carriers with interests in the midwestern region of the United States.

Rickenbacker's value proposition for exports, according to Columbus Airport Authority vice president David Whitaker, "is the often shorter distance to the export gateway from where the commodities are originating, less congestion, plenty of space and good service."

With ten 100-tonne aircraft arriving and departing each week, and carriers now able to accept exports, he added that Rickenbacker's opportunity has now become a reality.