Port Columbus International Airport is centrally located in Ohio as home to a diverse mix of air carriers.
      The airport is operated by the Columbus Regional Airport Authority, which also oversees the operation of cargo-dedicated Rikenbacker International Airport and general aviation airport Bolton Field.
      Additionally, the Columbus Regional Airport Authority is the Grantee of Foreign-Trade Zone No. 138. As Grantee, the Airport Authority is responsible for the administration, marketing, and oversight of FTZ No. 138 and can provide FTZ services in twenty-five Central Ohio counties.

The Challenge

      Airports often struggle to justify and fund projects related to air cargo. They face the challenges of large capital needs and limited dollars, opposition to airport expansion, or lack a cohesive vision for freight.
      Often the airport’s cargo infrastructure needs take a back seat to competing passenger projects that garner more public interest, or that have a more clearly defined ROI. Sometimes, airports have limited activity that produces revenue insufficient to fund additional cargo investments. Rickenbacker International Airport in Columbus, Ohio, is mostly an example of the latter.
      While it is important for an airport to have a growth strategy, going it alone inevitably puts a limit on what can be accomplished. This is a story of the partnerships needed to grow the airport beyond what it was alone capable of, while elevating the awareness of cargo’s key role in regional economic success.
      Originally built in 1942 as Lockbourne Army Air Base (hence the identifier “LCK”), responsibility for the airport was transferred to a civilian Port Authority for conversion into a commercial use area in the early 1980s. When the Rickenbacker Port Authority merged with the Columbus Municipal Airport Authority in 2003, there remained significant challenges to making Rickenbacker a successful and sustainable airport.
      Though the area was a budding logistics hub and local municipalities were starting to reap the employment and tax rewards of growing warehouse parks, the airport itself was struggling to keep up with the cost of maintaining a very large airfield and at the same time providing the infrastructure investment needed for growth. If Rickenbacker itself was going to become sustainable and economically beneficial to the Ohio Valley Region, it needed help.

LCK Terminal

Building Partnerships

      Large airport improvement programs typically involve governmental engagement on a federal, state, city, township, and village-level, navigating the varied interests of elected officials and constituents across multiple jurisdictions. Fortunately, elected officials are aware that local businesses fuel their economies and the jobs they create keep their constituents happy. If everyone works towards the common goal of attracting new businesses, adding jobs and income tax dollars, partnerships can become very desirable to all parties, including area businesses. As warehouses sprung up and more freight moved through the Rickenbacker area, it became clear that the next priority would be improving the surrounding roadway system.
      Over more than a decade, a concerted effort of planning and shared public funding brought nearly $100 million worth of roadway improvements and associated infrastructure upgrades to the area. These improvements literally paved the way for both freight and labor to travel safer, creating more efficient routes in and out of Rickenbacker. At the same time, the roadway work also strengthened the airport’s opportunity to share in the growth by connecting excess off-airport land owned by the Airport Authority that could be leveraged for development.

Beyond Expectations

      When the recession hit the U.S. in 2008-2009, everything came to a screeching halt. Airport business was down, retail business was down, and no one was investing in new construction or expanding warehouse operations. In the midst of the doom and gloom, hundreds of civic-minded leaders within the Central Ohio community came together to brainstorm ways to collaborate and leverage resources in order to create jobs and dig out of the financial doldrums.
      This group eventually became known as Columbus2020 and was backed by the strong support of both business and government partners. When Columbus2020 officially launched in 2010, it did so with measurable key performance indicators aimed at strengthening and diversifying the economic base by building on existing assets, attracting new investments, creating new business opportunities, and thereby growing the employment base and wage level.
      Under the expanded umbrella and strategy of Columbus2020, which promoted the logistics capabilities of the region, Rickenbacker’s air cargo potential became a key strategic component to attracting and retaining business and the airport gained broader and deeper support within the business community.

Celebrating Success

      While air carriers and shippers are fairly nimble and able to jump in and out of markets in relatively short timeframes, the infrastructure required to support freight operations is fixed at the airport and often subject to planning horizons that stretch for decades. Unlike the landside roadway infrastructure upgrades, the cost of which is shared by multiple public sources, the airside is traditionally the airport’s sole responsibility to develop. 
      While FedEx and UPS continued to serve Rickenbacker with multiple flights on a nightly basis, international air cargo activity for a long time consisted of wide body charters that served a very limited number of shippers and their forwarder partners. That began to change in 2013 when Cargolux became the first international freighter operator to offer regularly scheduled import service from Hong Kong to Columbus. Cathay Pacific Cargo and Emirates SkyCargo soon followed suit. Shortly thereafter all three began consolidating export freight at LCK to complement their inbound loads, an activity that was largely absent prior to the regular service. 
      With increasing international activity, the airport suddenly found itself in need of new air cargo terminal space, while at the same time lacking the capital to fund development in the short term.  Funding outlays for a new $8 million air traffic control tower were already taking up the current budget. Additional large expenditures necessary for airfield upkeep and NAVAID upgrades dwarfed the tower investment and consumed the budget for nearly the next decade. This posed a serious question: How could Rickenbacker seize on the momentum of new international service without incurring untenable debt? 

      In order to tackle the issue, a true public/private dialog was started in 2014 supported by Columbus2020 and with collaboration between the airport and local shipping interest. Traditional 3rd party developers were sought out to construct the new building, but remained focused on traditional gateways; therefore stakeholders came up with an alternate solution. The new Rickenbacker cargo terminal was constructed via a land lease to a non-traditional entity backed by a large international shipper willing to share the risks in support of a broader regional vision. Like traditional 3rd party development arrangements, the building owner would be responsible for tenant leasing while keeping the vision that the facility would be open for all comers to utilize through a single terminal operator.
      At the same time the building arrangement was struck, Franklin County Commissioners provided a critical piece funding for the new air traffic control tower, allowing some airport money to be freed up to contribute to ramp and utilities for the new cargo terminal. The City of Columbus and State of Ohio also contributed critical support to roadway and associated infrastructure, thus collectively ensuring the WWII-era tower would be replaced on schedule and the first phase of the new international air cargo terminal—unplanned when the tower project began—would open shortly thereafter.
      With construction underway, the final piece of the puzzle was the selection of a neutral, 3rd-party terminal operator for the new building. Total Airport Services, which operates air cargo terminals at seven major airports in the U.S., was ultimately selected to run the new Rickenbacker building.
      The new “Air Cargo Terminal #5” opened on May 31st, 2016, in the first phase of what would eventually become 250,000 square feet (23,225 square meters) of new on-ramp cargo terminal and office space. The building houses a community of stakeholders with the airlines, forwarders, and other service providers all under one roof with the terminal operator. Shared meeting, recruiting, and training spaces were also provided, as well as space for an in-house staffing agency. All of this would not have come to fruition if it weren’t for the collaboration and support of both public and private entities all working together for a wider regional goal.

An Airport Thinking Beyond Air

      The air cargo industry knows that air freight accounts for less than 10 percent of the volume of international trade. This makes ocean connectivity just as important to the airport in order to help regional business meet all of their transportation needs.
      At the same time that the Rickenbacker area started growing, the Columbus Regional Airport Authority collaborated with Norfolk Southern (railroad) Corporation to build and open the Rickenbacker Intermodal Rail Terminal on land adjacent to the airfield.
      Some within the community questioned the philosophy of an Airport Authority jumping into the railroad and ocean container arena. But in actuality, adding rail/ocean connectivity to Rickenbacker opened the door to Rickenbacker becoming a one-stop shop for logistics. This again reflects an innovative, collaborative effort between airport, railroad, and government, appropriately including substantial investment by Norfolk Southern itself. 

Looking At Tomorrow

      Today the Rickenbacker area boasts nearly 70 million square feet (6.5 million square meters) of warehouse, distribution, and air cargo space concentrated within a few short miles of the airport runways. The success that businesses and freighter operators have found through Rickenbacker could not have been accomplished without strong partnerships and efforts of a broader-than-usual number of diverse players. Those public/private partnerships formed to tackle development challenges continue to lead us toward future growth opportunities.
      To many outside of the airport, the perception is that Rickenbacker has seen significant growth and success virtually overnight. But those who have been working diligently to cultivate strong and mutually beneficial relationships know that this is the result of hard work by many hands over many years.
Geoffrey

To Read Part One and Part Two In The Airport Series Click To Read Part I Click To Read Part II

Vol. 15 No. 63
Closely Watched Planes
Giant Korean Flies Niches
Chuckles For August 17, 2016
Cambodian Rail Back On Track
41 Years Vital Views
Great Airports Worldwide