Business booms at Anchorage’s airport, driven by cargo

Business activity continues to grow at Ted Stevens International Airport in Anchorage. Alaska Airlines’ new $40 million maintenance hanger is in construction; a Request For Proposals will go out this spring for a new 150-plus room hotel on the airport premises; $100 million in various other airport improvements are planned this year; and new concessions are planned. That’s the word from airport manager Jim Szczesniak, delivered Feb. 20 to the Transportation Committee of the state House in Juneau.

The airport pays about $1 billion in annual payroll in Anchorage and the completion of the new Alaska Airlines hanger by itself will add to that as more maintenance staff are stationed in Anchorage. Federal Express has a maintenance hanger in Anchorage now. To build on that, the airport hopes to develop a major maintenance/repair/overhaul capability, taking advantage of the University of Alaska Anchorage aircraft programs and experienced Air Force retirees who opt to stay in Alaska.

What’s driving continued growth, besides stronger summer tourism, is the rapid growth of e-commerce in China and the U.S., which is keeping airfreighters full. China’s e-commerce is growing at 20 percent per year, and U.S. e-commerce was up 17 percent in 2017. Seventeen percent of all U.S. retail sales in 2017 were done on-line. Meanwhile, “gas-and-go” stops in Anchorage show no signs of slowing even though many cargo operators now have planes capable of nonstop flights, Szczesniak told the legislators. Pro ts are still higher by maximizing the payload, carrying less fuel and stopping in Alaska to fuel up.