Amazon Air begins cargo flights at Toledo airport

Mar. 18—Amazon Air has begun daily air cargo flights to Eugene F. Kranz Toledo Express Airport and an associated package-handling facility is expected to employ more than 50 people, Amazon and the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority announced Thursday.

Amazon's first local flight arrived at the airport at 10:36 p.m. Wednesday and departed at 8:57 a.m. Thursday, the port authority said. The roundtrip flight using a Boeing 737-800 cargo jet originated at Lakeland, Fla., according to flightradar24.com.

The package-handling facility will occupy a 65,000 square-foot, port authority owned building at 2 Air Cargo Pkwy. that is part of the former BAX Global air-cargo hub, the agency said. It will be managed by an Amazon logistics partner, Pinnacle Logistics.

"The port authority has been working diligently over the past several months to prepare the facility and the surrounding area for the new air cargo operation," according to an agency statement. "Completed renovations include the installation of 20 new LED high-mast ramp lights, resurfacing and LED light installation of the building's parking lot, reconfiguring gates and fencing, and constructing additional truck docks."

People interested in seeking jobs at the facility should visit the pinnaclelogistics.com website, the port authority advised.

Toledo becomes Amazon Air's second destination in Ohio, after flights serving Wilmington Air Park in southwest Ohio. The company's air network added Fairbanks, Alaska, to its map on Wednesday night as well.

"These latest additions to Amazon Air's operations will provide more capacity and enable fast, free shipping for customers in Ohio and throughout the region," said Jessica Pawl, an Amazon spokesman.

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The port authority's contract with Amazon and Pinnacle includes an annual lease for the building at $4.50 per square foot per year, with annual Consumer Price Index adjustments not to exceed 2.5 percent commencing Jan. 1, 2022; aircraft landing fees of $1.22 per 1,000 pounds based on each aircraft's certified maximum gross landing weight; and apron fees of $190 per airplane per 24 hours.

Besides that revenue, the air cargo operation will generate business for fixed-base operators who provide fuel and other aviation services at the airport and require trucking operations to and from the facility, said Thomas Winston, the port authority's president and chief executive officer.

"Our job is economic development," Mr. Winston said. "This has far-reaching implications for other businesses in our community."

The port authority's board of directors in November had appropriated $1.7 million from the agency's general fund to prepare the building for use by the then-undisclosed occupant. With TronAir, a manufacturer of airfield tugs and other aviation-related equipment, occupying a larger building at 1 Air Cargo Pkwy., the entire former BAX facility is again in use, Mr. Winston said.

The air cargo operation follows Amazon's recent construction of major warehouses on the former Southwyck Shopping Center site in southwest Toledo and in the Crossroads of America area of Rossford.

First Published March 18, 2021, 3:10pm