Page 34 - The STAT Trade Times September 2022 Issue

focus

for people to get their goods faster. For the
year 2021 the annual cargo throughput of
the airport was 643,138 tonnes of cargo.
“So Philadelphia only receives about 5%
of its total revenue from its cargo operations.
And again, the only source of that revenue is
from landing fees of those cargo aircraft. So
if you think about it, we have about 30 dedi-
cated cargo flights a day, while we have over
350 flights a day in total. So you know, 10% of
AMBITIONS activity and 5% of revenue coming from our
cargo operation,” says Tyrrell.
A 2017 study found that the airport
captures only nine percent of a potential $53
its catchment area. Tyrrell said that the airport
Philadelphia International Airport is investing big to billion air cargo opportunity passing through
was unable to take advantage of that oppor-
build cargo infrastructure for future to increase revenue tunity because “we could not accommodate
from cargo operations considerably. that cargo; we did not have the facilities to
Reji John process that cargo”.
Did the pandemic really open the eyes
hiladelphia International Airport its operations several years ago at PHL and of PHL management to realize the cargo
(PHL) is located right in the operates one of the largest hubs in the US. revenue potential? And did that guide the
middle of the US political capital In fact other two big names in the express airport management to go ahead with the
PWashington DC in the south and industry — FedEx and DHL — also have big investment?
the financial capital New York in the north. significant operations at PHL. American “Yes and no,” says Tyrrell. “So to be honest,
Seven miles from downtown Philadel- Airlines has its hub at the airport and the the airport acquired a 135-acre parcel in 2017.
phia, the airport is easily accessible and airline will be operating to 11 destinations We had been working on it for a while before
convenient to many tourist sites, business in Europe this year. that. We had a really good idea that we're in a
centres and cultural hubs. The Airport is But it was since 2019 that things began to cargo rich environment, but we didn't know
self-sustaining and uses no local tax dollars. change for PHL and the airport management how good so we commissioned a study to
PHL is one of the largest economic engines began to evaluate investing seriously into be done by a company in 2017. And to our
in the region, generating $16.8 billion to developing cargo infrastructure at the airport surprise, they came back with the results and
the economy and accounting for 106,000 to handle all types of cargo commodities. In it showed that $53 billion worth of air cargo
full-time jobs annually. 2019 the annual cargo throughput at the air- commodities were being shipped or re-
However, this important airport in the port was over 600,000 tonnes. PHL handled ceived within our catchment area every year.
east cost of the US did very little on its 3.2 percent more tonnes of cargo in 2021 $53 billion is a pretty significant amount. And
own to develop cargo business initially than in 2020, a pandemic-era trend that is that's within a four-hour ride of Philadelphia.
and a lot of cargo business growth hap- only projected to grow as demand increases We only captured 9% of that big numbers.
pened by accident.
“I think our cargo operation could have
grown significantly beyond where it is today.
But we just didn't have any facilities or any
opportunities to expand our capacity,” says
Jim Tyrrell, Chief Revenue Officer, Philadelphia
International Airport.
But even without any specific efforts and
investments PHL has a good cargo track
record. The global parcel giant UPS set up