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Chicago Rockford International Airport leases warehouse to ABX Air

A BOEING 767 cargo jet will fly in and out of Chicago Rockford International Airport each day beginning September 9, and the freight operation will grow to two flights a day in October, three a day in November and up to five a day by the end of the year.

This follows the signing of a contract between the airport with ABX Air, an international air freight company based in Wilmington, Ohio, to run the cargo operation, the reported Rockford Register Star.

The city's airport lost a tenant last month at its 72,000-square foot warehouse on Kishwaukee Road and ABX Air signed the lease recently as part of a cargo deal that will bring more than 50 mostly part-time jobs to town beginning next week.

The deal provides the airport additional landing fees and fuel flowage fees as well as rent from the airport's warehouse, just west of the United Parcel Service hub.

"Our expectation, based on what we're hearing from the tenant, is that the cargo operation could grow even more in the new year," said airport executive director Mike Dunn.

The ABX Air contract is the first sign that the airport's decade-long pursuit of cargo business is paying off. The air cargo firm is teaming with Pinnacle Logistics to provide freight-handling services on the ground.

"Within six months, our understanding is that the client will be handling five or six flights a day and will need to lease the additional warehouse space," Mr Dunn said.

Neither airport officials nor representatives of ABX or Pinnacle will say whose cargo will be routed through Rockford or where the load will go when trucks roll it out of town.

However, ABX Air's parent, Air Transport Services Group (ATSG) made headlines in March when Amazon, the nation's No 1 retailer, announced it had tapped ATSG to handle its air freight delivery using 20 used Boeing 767 cargo jets.

As part of the deal, Amazon retains the right to acquire nearly 20 per cent of ATSG for more than US$600 million.