Sea-Tac Airport ramps up for cherry exports

The Seattle-Tacoma International Airport is ramping up to handle millions of pounds of fresh cherries for export during the next two months.

   The Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac) is ramping up to handle millions of pounds of fresh cherries for export during the next two months.
   In 2015, the total international cherry volume through Sea-Tac Airport was 30 million pounds, with a declared value of $85 million.
   It’s estimated that 220,000 pounds of cherries can be loaded into a Boeing 747-400 freighter, one of the most common cargo planes operating at Sea-Tac.
   “With our expanded cargo facilities, we’re more than able to accommodate the increase of planes taking cherries to international destinations,” Port of Seattle Commission President John Creighton said in a statement.
   Last year, Sea-Tac spent $23 million to expand two cargo areas to provide more capacity for larger freighter aircraft.
   The Pacific Northwest cherry business encompasses more than 2,500 growers across Washington, Oregon, Utah, Montana and Idaho.
   “Nearly 31 percent of the Northwest cherry crop was exported in 2015, the vast majority going to Asian countries,” said Keith Hu, Northwest Cherry Growers’ internal operations director.
   Northwest cherry export sales averaged $267 million for the past five years. In the past five seasons, the Northwest cherry industry packed and sold an average of 196,000 tons of fresh sweet cherries, reaching an all-time high of 232,000 tons in 2014.