FedEx Asia service helps Alliance Airport to record cargo level
Fort Worth Alliance Airport handled more air cargo than in any other year since the facility opened in 1989, due in large part to a new FedEx service to Asia, the airport said Monday.
The 250,479 metric tons of cargo handled in 2006 surpassed the previous high of 242,210 metric tons handled in 2000.
The increase is also due to more charter air cargo flights, including the AN-124 and the 747 widebody aircraft, which transported helicopters, aircraft engines and oilfield equipment to and from Alliance in 2006.
“The new FedEx daily service from Alliance to and from Asia provides our customers with a faster option to move goods between Texas and China,” said Tom Harris, senior vice president of Hillwood Properties, which manages the Alliance Global Logistics Hub. “While much of the recent focus has been on the record number of intermodal containers being shipped from Asia, via the West Coast ports, to the Alliance BNSF intermodal rail yard, the ability to move large volumes of cargo by air, as well as rail and highway, is what makes Alliance a complete global logistics hub.”
Containers from Fort Worth Alliance Airport to Asia are flown directly to the FedEx gateway in Anchorage, where they are transloaded to flights bound for various destinations throughout China and the Pacific Rim. Packages moving from Asia to Alliance also connect through Anchorage.
According to recent forecasts, air freight from China to the United States is expected to grow at an average rate of 9.6 percent a year over the next 20 years. In 2005 about $60 billion in goods left China by air and another $61 billion in goods entered China by air. U.S.-China trade has grown dramatically, increasing in value from $121.5 billion in 2001 to $260.6 billion in 2005, according to the U.S.-China Business Council.
More than 140 companies have facilities, primarily distribution centers, at the Alliance Global Logistics Hub, occupying 25.4 million square feet.
Construction is underway to extend the runway at Fort Worth Alliance Airport from 9,600 feet to 11,000 feet.