Dive Brief:
- Amazon announced Tuesday that it has chosen Alliance Airport in Fort Worth, Texas, as a new regional hub for Amazon Air, the internet retailing behemoth’s cargo airline operation.
- Construction has already started on the new hub, which will be built to handle the company’s regional shipping volume, sorting needs and multiple daily flights. According to The Dallas Morning News, the Fort Worth hub represents the latest step in the company's move toward being able to fill in the shipping gaps left by traditional carriers like UPS, the U.S. Postal Service and FedEx. Amazon Air’s fleet of planes is expected to number 40 by the end of this year.
- Amazon plans to begin flights in and out of the new hub in 2019. “We are pleased to grow our partnership with Amazon here at Alliance,” said Bill Burton, executive vice president of Hillwood, the developer of AllianceTexas, the 26,000-acre mixed-use community that encompasses the airport. “As one of the world’s most influential retail, technology and supply chain logistics companies, Amazon’s selection of Fort Worth Alliance Airport will continue to transform the airport’s role within the region.”
Dive Insight:
Amazon has not revealed many details about the facility at Alliance, but has unveiled information about its $1.5 billion global hub at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG), which is expected to help the company reach international customers when it is complete in 2025. Amazon expects to be able to start construction next year and engage in some operations there by 2020. Amazon is currently leasing space from shipping company DHL, which also operates a global service out of CVG.
As of May 2018, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority had approved almost $80 million of incentives for the airport and the 11 fulfillment centers it has in the state. For the CVG hub alone, the authority authorized a $40 million tax credit, as long as Amazon creates at least 600 jobs, and another $5.4 million of tax breaks for the project's first phase — $2.4 million for materials and fixtures and $3 million for equipment, research and development.
Amazon changed the name of its air cargo delivery service from "Amazon Prime Air" to "Amazon Air" last year. The company will offer drone delivery service, still in the development phase, under the banner of Prime Air.
