Pittsburgh International expanding cargo facilities with federal grant

The Allegheny County Airport Authority is using an $18.7 million federal grant to expand its air cargo business at Pittsburgh International Airport, an official said Wednesday.

Bryan Dietz, the authority’s vice president of air service development, said the authority would use the federal BUILD grant to help construct a $30 million cargo processing facility and adjacent parking lot that would be available to multiple users. In a separate project, the authority plans to expand a taxiway and aircraft apron to serve the new facility.

Construction dates have not been set.

The building location will be near existing cargo facilities on the airport’s northern edge along Business 376. Dietz said the new facility would allow carriers such as Fed Ex and UPS to use larger aircraft and add services.

Cargo areas in three existing buildings will soon be full, according to the authority.

“Air cargo for us is a growing business line. What all this business does is one common thing: It supports very directly the businesses that are located in this area or the ones that are looking to locate in this area and consumers,” Dietz said.

Christina Cassotis, the airport authority’s CEO, said the project would make Pittsburgh a more efficient cargo destination for carriers wanting to avoid larger, congested airports around the country.

“As demand for cargo infrastructure increases, we are getting interest from carriers and freight forwarders around the world seeking to diversify their supply chains to airports with less congestion,” Cassotis said in a statement. “This project enables the Pittsburgh region to be at the forefront of accommodating that demand.”

The airport through August experienced a 5% growth in air cargo business with 106 million pounds passing through its facilities, according to the authority’s newsletter. If the trend continues, the airport would exceed last year’s total of 156 million tons.

Earlier this year, Sri Lanka-based EFL signed a deal with Qatar Airways Cargo to ship 90 tons of cargo through the airport.