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First in passengers, Atlanta spends US$200 million to rise in cargo

ALREADY tops in passenger traffic, but ranked 38th air freight, Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport will spend US$200 million to change that with three new cargo facilities.

Linda Eshiwani-Nate, officer for air service development, said the "main purpose is to be the main economic generator of the region?

There is significant manufacturing in the region, particularly in aerospace, but companies are trucking as far as Chicago, Miami and New York, officials say.

"Our main push now is to grow cargo. We may be the world's busiest passenger airport, but we have a lot of capacity on the cargo side," said Ms Eshiwani-Nate.

"We want to be better than everyone, but the main purpose is to be the main economic generator of the region."

The airport's aim is twofold: to iron out current problems; and to attract Georgia businesses to import and export from Atlanta rather than trucking further afield to airports such as Chicago.

"There is a new strategic plan," said Mark Diamond, principal airline advisory for consultancy ICF. "The focus is on growing services and facilities and attracting more freighters by building an economic case for that."

Korean Air Cargo currently puts the highest volumes through the airport, which handled 648,000 tonnes last year, but other airlines are interested in more operations, the airport said.