Stellar year for cargo at Chicago Rockford
15 / 02 / 2021
Chicago Rockford (RFD). Credit: Dave Lindberg.
Chicago Rockford International Airport (RFD) handled record cargo volumes in 2020 on the back of e-commerce demand.
The Illinois airport saw cargo volumes increase by 15% year on year in 2020 1.2m tonnes. The leading driver of the cargo growth was e-commerce purchases.
“Cargo growth has continued at a high pace since the 2019 holiday season due to the pandemic in which a rise of purchases online continued throughout the year,” the airport said. “That, combined with the cargo flights carrying essential products and PPE to the region, increased the number of cargo flights and new international cargo operations.”
RFD is home to the second largest UPS hub in North America, which continues to increase its daily cargo flights, as well as ABX Air, ATI, Senator International, DB Schenker, National Airlines, and Atlas Air.
“We’re proud to be a catalyst for access and ease of transporting goods for our region,” said Mike Dunn, executive director, RFD. “The ongoing infrastructure improvements and new development on our property will help us to continue to realise enhanced job growth and business opportunities as well.”