There’s a chill in the air at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, or there will be soon, even in the middle of a hot August summer.
Cargo and logistics customers will soon have better opportunities to ship perishable items through DFW Airport when installation of a cold chain facility goes online, likely sometime this summer.
The cold chain facility will be operated by Houston-based AirLogistix USA. The state-of-the-art transfer facility will give DFW the ability to precisely control warehousing temperatures for shipments of pharmaceuticals, flowers and fresh foods.
“There are tremendous growth opportunities for domestic and international cargo customers to ship perishables through DFW to 180 markets,” said John Ackerman, executive vice president global strategy and development at DFW Airport. “We are very excited to partner with AirLogistix USA on a cold chain facility at DFW Airport. Today, we handle 66 percent of the air cargo from Texas, and our cargo tonnage increased by more than 8 percent over last year and is up 18 percent this year. This new facility will increase our handling capabilities and open new doors for all our cargo and logistics partners to ship high-value, temperature and time sensitive products through DFW.”
DFW Airport handles more than 794,600 U.S. tons of air freight, which is shipped to destinations all over the world. Fourteen dedicated freighters serve 22 major cargo hubs throughout Asia, Europe, and North America from the airport. Belly cargo capacity is also available to more than 200 global destinations on the 26 passenger airlines that serve the airport.
“Dallas Fort Worth is a natural choice for us to further develop AirLogistix USA ‘middle mile’ on-airport perishables handling services. The DFW gateway has the advantage of being located in the central U.S., which helped drive our expansion into North Texas,” said Ray Brimble, president and CEO of Lynxs Group, owner of AirLogistix USA. “We look forward to working with all airlines that serve DFW. Our facility will be available to distributors and forwarders who need to keep their perishable and temperature sensitive goods cool during shipping, with particular emphasis on transit through the airport. We are ready to get started at DFW.”