FEAM Aero, a Miami-based aircraft repair station, opened a new maintenance hangar Wednesday at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport to service cargo aircraft operated by Atlas Air as well as planes flown by other carriers.
The $19 million, 103,000-square-foot hangar at CVG is large enough to accommodate a Boeing 747 and was developed by the Lynxs Group on an eight-acre site. The new facility is an extension of FEAM’s presence at the airport, where it already employs more than 200 technicians that work on Atlas Air and other aircraft. An additional 100 people are expected to be hired as a result of the hangar opening.
Atlas said that FEAM does line maintenance and light airframe checks on its 737s, 767s and 747s. “The new FEAM maintenance facility in CVG will greatly enhance our ability to support our fleet and deliver the highest levels of service for our customers,” Atlas Air Worldwide CEO John Dietrich said.
Work on the hangar began in October 2018. In addition to Atlas aircraft, the facility will provide maintenance support to DHL and Amazon Air (Nasdaq: AMZN), among others.
Candace McGraw, CEO of the airport, said, “We’re delighted that FEAM and Lynxs chose this site to support the rapid cargo growth at CVG.” Developing available airport land and growing air cargo operations are strategic goals, she said.
CVG, which is home to DHL’s North American hub, is one of the busiest cargo airports in the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration statistics for 2018 show CVG behind only Memphis, Anchorage, Louisville, Miami and Los Angeles in terms of cargo landed weight. The airport handled 9.1 million passengers and nearly 1.25 million tons of cargo in 2019.
Amazon Air and Atlas currently are developing facilities at, or near, the airport. In May, Amazon Air broke ground at CVG for its $1.5 billion Air Hub, which is scheduled to open next year and is expected to create up to 2,000 new jobs.
Atlas Air Worldwide (Nasdaq: AAWW), the parent company of cargo carriers Atlas Air and Southern Air Holding and leasing company Titan Aviation Holdings, and majority shareholder of Polar Air Cargo, is building its global operations center near the airport. That facility also is expected to open in 2021.