COVID-19 vaccine draws international cargo carriers to Grand Rapids

Grand Rapids’ Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR) could soon see its cargo operations grow, with new freighter operators looking to transport shipments of the Pfizer vaccine manufactured at the Portage, Mich., site nearby. [caption id="attachment_93757" align="alignright" width="500"] FedEx is currently the only cargo carrier at Grand Rapids. (Photo: Gerald R. Ford International Airport)[/caption]“We’re working with four Asian and European 747 freighter operators that have expressed an interest,” Director of Commercial Development Stephen Clark told Air Cargo World . “Each one of them is at a different stage of the process, and there’s a lot of work to be done to bring a new flight operation to an airport, but from a capability standpoint we’re very optimistic it’s going to happen.” Clark noted that, with one carrier in particular, GRR could expect to handle a dedicated freighter service two to three days a week, potentially involving 747Fs and 777Fs — and possibly even cargo-only A350s. Air Cargo World believes Singapore Airlines, China Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Korean Air, Cargolux and AirBridgeCargo could be likely candidates, based on the fleets these carriers operate. GRR is currently home to a FedEx facility and sees regular A300-600F and feeder flights operated by the integrator, including the Dec. 13 flight that carried the initial batch of Pfizer vaccines to Memphis (MEM). But the airport hopes to be able to secure new intercontinental cargo business in the long term, on top of operations aimed — at least in the immediate future — solely at transporting vaccines. “We certainly hope it continues,” said Clark. “This region has a lot of businesses that do work internationally, including in the smart manufacturing, life sciences, aerospace and agricultural sectors. We feel that there’s absolutely a market for us to do more air cargo work, and we’re ready to heavily incentivize that growth.” UPS, which opted to fly its initial Pfizer shipment from Lansing (LAN), also operates a small facility at GRR but does not currently fly there. Clark said the airport is working to get UPS to return. As part of a wider development plan, GRR has earmarked around 900 acres of land that it can develop, almost 80 acres of which could be built into a free trade zone. Clark said that will help to capture at least some of the cargo traffic that is being lost to other major airports. “We actually worked with industry to understand what was going on in our own backyards,” he said. “And what we found from that study was that there’s both domestic and international demand, but a lot of cargo is being trucked to Chicago, Detroit or Cincinnati. Instead of using hundreds of trucks a day, there are things that could potentially be commingled and put into the air network through us.” While GRR’s cargo throughout grew by 7% year over year in October, year-to-date that figure is up by about one percentage point up on last year, and passenger activity is down by around 50%, according to Clark. But that could change with the arrival of some new freighters and airlines at GRR’s cargo apron. “As the days and weeks go on, this gets a little closer,” he said. “We’re definitely feeling good.”

COVID-19 vaccine draws international cargo carriers to Grand Rapids

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COVID-19 vaccine draws 747F operators to Grand Rapids

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