Alaska Airport Wants to Increase Cargo Flights to China
nchorage, Alaska, wants to capitalize on its location as a key transit stop between the U.S. mainland and China by boosting the capacity of its airport, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.
Anchorage is already a hub for carriers like FedEx Corp., but the city wants to capture more of the U.S.-China trade by using the 370 acres of free land at the local airport for storage and product assembly space, said Robert G. Poe, chief executive of the nonprofit Anchorage Economic Development Corp., AP reported from Hong Kong.
Poe said he hopes to encourage more Chinese companies to ship through Anchorage, a prospect made easier by the increasing number of flights between the United States and China.
Poe estimates that currently 20% of Anchorage's air cargo and logistical work comes from China, AP said.
He said Alaska's perceived harsh weather isn't an issue, with the airport closing only once in the past 15 years for weather reasons. Air transportation accounts for about 10% of all jobs in Anchorage, Poe said.
