The online retailer has agreed to a 50-year lease for approximately 900 acres of property located at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky airport in Hebron, where the facility will be built. The new development is intended to supplement Amazon’s operations with traditional carriers like FedEx, and is also expected to generate more than 2,000 new job opportunities.
Amazon has certainly been on a growth mode of late, currently operating 16 freighters in its fleet, of the 40 it intends lease in total, as well as taking on a dedicated network of 4,000 semi trailers to increase trucking capacity. Another recent development was the inauguration of Amazon’s ocean operation, shipping the goods of China-based sellers by sea to its US warehouses, thereby taking on new responsibilities previously assigned to global logistics companies.
No opening date has been set for the cargo centre as yet, but it has been suggested that this may be the beginning of further significant investment in air cargo infrastructure for Amazon. Will the retailer assert itself as a competitor in the freight and logistics market in time? For now, at least, it seems the main objective for Amazon is to bolster capacity during peak seasons, more than to engage in competition.
Neighbouring with Deutsche Post AG’s DHL, a major provider of international shipments to the e-commerce giant, the location of the new building could facilitate the transfer of shipments between aircraft and lessen Amazon’s dependence on UPS and FedEx.
Owing to its central location, Amazon already operates 11 fulfilment centres in the state of Kentucky, employing more than 10,000 people in full-time jobs.
