Southwest Cargo plans $28M facility at DEN

Southwest Airlines Cargo is planning a $28 million stand-alone cargo facility at Denver International Airport that will become operational in early 2025. Denver (DEN) is currently the “largest growing city in the Southwest network ” in terms of flight operations, Wally Devereaux , vice president of cargo and charters at Southwest Airlines, told Air Cargo Next . [caption id="attachment_57140449" align="aligncenter" width="566"] A planned 28,640-square-foot cargo facility at Denver International Airport will open in early 2025.(Courtesy/Southwest Airlines)[/caption] The 28,640-square-foot facility will accommodate the airline’s growing cargo operations and will sit behind an existing 16,795-square-foot cargo facility shared by Southwest and other tenants, Devereaux said. The airline is also planning a 100,000-square-foot general warehouse at DEN, to open in 2026, Devereaux said. Southwest had a cargo throughput of 13,607 tonnes in 2023 at DEN, Devereaux said. Southwest broke ground on the stand-alone facility in late 2023. “It’s a big operation,” Devereaux said. “We have 40 gates [at DEN]. We have over 6,800 employees in Denver. ... We’ve been making some other investments there. We had a new maintenance hangar that opened in March 2022. “It has really aligned with the demand for air travel and for Southwest Airlines in the Denver market, which is exciting,” he added. The new facility is not planned to include major technological improvements over other Southwest facilities, but this is something the airline “is reviewing,” Devereaux said. ‘Extraordinary growth’ Denver’s total cargo throughput in 2023 fell 1.9% year over year to 308,442 tonnes, but grew 1.4% compared with 2019, according to a Jan. 31 release from the airport. “2023 was a year of extraordinary growth for DEN and I am proud of the airport team for the ways that we have adjusted our strategies, invested in new technologies and worked to meet the moment while also continuing to prepare for the future,” DEN Chief Executive Phil Washington said in the release. The airport also reported 2023 as the busiest year on record in terms of destination and origination flights, with United Airlines and Southwest as its largest carriers, the release stated. Southwest Airlines accounted for 30.9% of DEN’s market share in 2023, or 24 million passengers, according to the release. DEN recently received $26.6 million from the federal government for infrastructure and efficiency improvements throughout the airport, according to a Feb. 15 release. The airport did not respond to requests for comment from Air Cargo Next . “Denver just kind of continues to grow cargo-wise at a pretty steady pace,” Devereaux said. “We do a lot of e-commerce-related shipments in and out of Denver, we do a lot of medical-related shipments, we do a lot of perishable-related shipments. And so, there’s just a wide variety of things that move either in and out of Denver or that transfer or ride through Denver.” Register here for Air Cargo Next ’s free webinar, “The Role of Drones in the Future of Air Cargo,” on Tuesday, March 26, at 11 a.m. ET.

Southwest Cargo plans $28M facility at DEN

Southwest moved 13,607 tonnes at DEN in 2023

A321P2Fs to enter Philippines with Aero Bleu

Aviation increasingly faces threat of satellite interference

Related Posts

Swissport enters Indonesia with Unex joint venture

Brussels, Hyderabad deepen cargo ties

UPS to build facility at GYY as cargo campus completes 1st phase

Aviation increasingly faces threat of satellite interference

Cargo Facts Free Newsletters

Cargo Facts Connect Podcast

Follow Us

Welcome Back!

Retrieve your password