A United Airlines Boeing 777, with lots of cargo capacity, departs Barcelona in February 2024. … More
Virginia’s state economic development authority has ambitious goals for Dulles International Airport.
It wants “to position Dulles as America’s next great cargo gateway, particularly for international air cargo,“ said Jason El Koubi, its president and CEO. In particular, he said, “We want to make it the next great cargo airport on the East Coast.”
The East Coast is a tough neighborhood for cargo airport competition, with Newark and Kennedy International Airport well-established and Philadelphia International Airport expanding.
The Virginia Economic Development Partnership faces two issues at Dulles: The airport’s cargo handling capabilities must grow, and the proclivity of Virgina companies to ship cargo at Dulles must grow with it.
Dulles touts advantages in geography and infrastructure that should help it to acquire a bigger presence. “Virginia is positioned for that,” said Eric Jehu, the partnership’s vice president for transportation and logistics. “Companies are moving to the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic, and the center of population is moving to the South and West.” But for now, he said, “Air cargo is a missing piece.”
El Koubi said Virginia has various potential users for improved air cargo service, “We are already a leader in aerospace and defense and advanced materials, and we are a strong emerging player in advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing,” he said. “All of those will be strengthened by an air cargo capability.”
Over the next 15 years Dulles plans expansion spending of $9 billion, including preliminary spending for a fifth runway. Fifty-one airlines use the airport, including hub carrier United, which operates 260 daily departures and serves 40 international destinations. In May, United will begin Dulles-Dakar service: Next year, the airport will open a 14-gate $700 million concourse for United.
“We have a strong network to feed Dulles,” said Chris Busch, United vice president for cargo. “We use our network to bring freight to Dulles, and we have a trucking operation throughout the East Coast. The air product is there. It’s the rest of the infrastructure that needs to update.”
A primary issue is that passenger aircraft from Europe arrive with high utilization of their cargo bellies, but they are rarely full when they depart. Cargo bellies are “full coming in and empty going out,” said Jehu. He envisions transatlantic freighter capability, but noted, “We need to fill the planes we have first.”
For now, Kennedy, Newark and Philadelphia airports all handle more cargo than Dulles does. According to the statistics on each airport’s web site, about 1.7 million tons of cargo passed through JFK in 2024, while Newark handled 711,000 tons, Philadelphia handled 524,000 tons and Dulles handled 247,000 tons. However, in terms of 2023 international outbound cargo capacity, Dulles has about 207,000 tons while Philadelphia has about 61 tons, according to statistics provided by the partnership.
In 2021, in a Forbes story entitled “Philadelphia Airport Plans To Rule Over East Coast Cargo With $1.8 Billion Project,” PHL laid out plans for about 800,000 square feet of additional cargo buildings as well as ten spots for overnight parking by widebody cargo aircraft. The airport currently has about 600,000 square feet of cargo buildings. (The $1.8 billion is for both cargo and passenger expansion.)
“PHL is advancing its cargo development strategy by collaborating with industry experts and investing in cutting-edge technology,” said Philadelphia airport spokeswoman Heather Redfern, in an email. This spring, the airport will break ground on a 261,000-cargo refrigeration facility. “The PHL Cool Port will feature cooler and frozen zones to support the handling of pharmaceuticals, life sciences, perishable foods, and specialized electronics,” she said.
Philadelphia also plans a new 150,000 square foot cargo facility. While Dulles is a transatlantic hub for United, Philadelphia is a transatlantic hub for American, which has 340 daily departures to 110 destinations in 24 countries.
Richard Golinowski, airport manager at Dulles, said, “We are primed for cargo operation and we are looking at our cargo facilities, trying to figure out whether we can expand where we are or whether we should move to the south end of the airport.” The intent, he said, is “to fill in the blocks on the airport to make sure we can accept the cargo business.”
Carriers including United, FedEx, UPS and the international passenger carriers “are ready to accept more cargo” Golinowski said. The airport has capacity with 12,000 acres, four runways and a fifth in the planning stages. Also, “We are so close to highways,” he said. “We have the road structure in Virginia to get cargo to and from the airport and the rest of the state and the region.
“We need the demand,” he said. “We can support whatever cargo there is.”
