Rocking air cargo near Chicago
For Chicago Rockford International Airport (RFD), the year 2020 ended with the largest year-to-date landed cargo weight in the organisation’s history, growing by more than 15% to 1.225 million t of freight that landed and travelled through RFD compared to 2019. The leading driver of the cargo growth was e-commerce transactions.
Cargo growth at the airport some 130 km west of downtown Chicago has continued at a high pace since the 2019 holiday season due to the pandemic, which saw a rise of online purchases combined with the cargo flights carrying essential products and PPE to the Midwest.
RFD is home to the second largest UPS hub in North America and also serves other major players in the air cargo industry, including ABX Air, ATI, Senator International, DB Schenker, National Airlines and Atlas Air. (ah)