Friday, February 22, 2008

Delayed intermodal terminal near Rickenbacker on track to open

Business First of Columbus

By Adrian Burns Business First

 

Norfolk Southern Corp.'s long-awaited intermodal cargo terminal near Rickenbacker International Airport is set to open March 3, none too soon for those dealing with the railroad's overburdened Discovery Park yard off Alum Creek Drive south of Columbus.  The $63 million facility, which will make it much easier to transfer cargo containers between trains and tractor trailers, will allow Norfolk Southern to shut down Discovery Park and shift operations to the larger, modern facility.  Construction on the 175-acre terminal got under way in September 2006 after holdups in funding and by regulators delayed the start of development by a year.

 

Full story at http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2008/02/25/story1.html

Rickenbacker aims to break even by 2012

Airport's annual deficit has declined since 2003

Sunday,  March 2, 2008 3:29 AM

By Alayna DeMartini

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Franklin County taxpayers have invested $115 million in Rickenbacker Airport since 1981, and it's still operating in the red.  While the quest for profitability is decades old, the current plan is for self-sufficiency by 2012.  The chief financial officer for the regional airport authority hopes that Rickenbacker will break even in four years, when the county's funding is scheduled to end.  Rickenbacker's annual deficit has declined since 2003, the first year the Columbus Regional Airport Authority took over its operation.

 

Full story at http://dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/03/02/Rickenbacker.ART_ART_03-02-08_B1_239GTKH.html?sid=101

Ohio's World Class Logistics Industry Gets Major Boost with Opening of International Shipping Hub

 

State expands logistics industry to meet increased business growth, allow

        existing and future companies to better reach global market

 

    COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Ohio is expanding its global reach in the logistics industry with the dedication of Norfolk Southern Corp.'s new intermodal cargo terminal near Rickenbacker International Airport on March 10, 2008.  The terminal is the next big step forward in dramatically increasing capacity of the international shipping business in Ohio, according to the Ohio Business Development Coalition (OBDC), the nonprofit organization that markets the state for capital investment.

 

Full story at http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/03-11-2008/0004771425&EDATE=

 

Rickenbacker logistics park lands more room for more warehouses

Business First of Columbus

Doug Buchanan, Business First

Friday, March 7, 2008

 

The Rickenbacker Global Logistics Park has swelled again.  The last of the residents occupying 10 parcels northeast of Rickenbacker International Airport are set to move out by April 30, giving the Columbus Regional Airport Authority access to the 60 acres it bought in December for $3.7 million, or $62,204 per acre.  That deal and others have pushed the logistics park to nearly 1,600 acres spread around Rickenbacker airport - up from about 1,300 a year ago - and will give the authority more land to build warehouses, said Robin Holderman, the authority's vice president of real estate.  The most recently added space can accommodate about 1.3 million square feet of warehouse space, he said.

 

Full story at http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2008/03/10/tidbits1.html?jst=s_cn_hl

 

Friday, July 18, 2008

Rickenbacker-area traffic plans taking shape

Business First of Columbus - by Adrian Burns

 

Rising freight traffic on Columbus' south side is prompting officials to move a number of infrastructure projects forward to alleviate resulting traffic congestion on area roads.  Obetz village has secured $3.3 million in state funding for improvements to the intersection of Groveport Road and Alum Creek Drive.  At the same time, officials are rounding up money to study improvements at the nearby interchange with Interstate 270.  And farther south, Pickaway County is preparing to study a high-capacity connector road between Rickenbacker International Airport and Route 23.

 

The initiatives are signs that momentum is building for transportation improvements around Rickenbacker, where growth in the logistics industry is placing a burden on highways, said Robert Lawler, transportation director with the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission.  "They start to make it a real project instead of just a wish-list project," he said.

 

Full story at http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2008/07/21/story1.html

CONSTRUCTION ZONE

Massive $78 million warehouse nearly ready for Whirlpool

Monday,  September 8, 2008  5:23 AM

By Mike Pramik

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Wednesday was a great day for a barbecue near Rickenbacker Airport: blue skies, warm weather and the smell of freshly poured concrete in the air.  While burgers sizzled on a nearby grill, workers for Unlimited Concrete Solutions installed the last of 40,000 cubic yards of floor material at Whirlpool's massive new warehouse at Pizzuti Cos.'  Rickenbacker West industrial park.  The Benton Harbor, Mich., appliance maker plans to occupy the $78 million, 1.6 million-square-foot distribution center in November.

 

Full story at http://dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/09/08/ZONE.ART_ART_09-08-08_B1_283OPED.html?sid=101

Myrtle Beach flights from Rickenbacker begin Saturday

Business First of Columbus

Friday, May 22, 2009

 

A Myrtle Beach charter service is set to begin its second year of flights to the popular South Carolina vacation spot starting Saturday.  The Columbus Regional Airport Authority said the first flight from DirectAir will set out from the Rickenbacker International Airport passenger terminal at 9:45 a.m. Saturday.  The company is offering flights every Saturday morning and every Wednesday at 6:45 p.m.

 

Flights sell for $99 each way, but the company is offering a 50 percent discount on all flights booked by midnight Monday at visitdirectair.com with the promotional code XMR49.  DirectAir, which began flights in Columbus from Rickenbacker last March, charters flights to Myrtle Beach from 11 cities. 

 

Full story at http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2009/05/18/daily42.html?surround=lfn

Stimulus cash sought for Rickenbacker

Business First of Columbus - by Adrian Burns

Friday, September 25, 2009

 

The Columbus Regional Airport Authority is seeking $25 million in federal stimulus money to fund several projects officials say are crucial to the continued growth of the area’s burgeoning logistics industry.  The Sept. 15 application to the U.S. Department of Transportation lists six projects that are expected to boost capacity and spur further development around Rickenbacker International Airport south of Columbus.

 

Map and Graphic of the six projects

 

Read more at http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2009/09/28/story2.html

Rickenbacker might pay big to land tenant for warehouse

Monday,  September 28, 2009

By Marla Matzer Rose

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

After a year sitting vacant, a mammoth warehouse built by the Columbus Regional Airport Authority and two partners near Rickenbacker Airport might have found a taker.  The catch: It's going to cost more than $22 million to complete the deal.  Signing a 10-year lease with the unnamed tenant would require the authority and its partners to shell out $21.3 million to make tenant improvements.  The authority also would need to spend $1.2 million to purchase an adjacent 3.6-acre plot of land for the tenant to use for tractor-trailer storage.  The land purchase and the approval of a $21.3 million loan by the authority to the entity that owns the 936,000-square-foot warehouse will be put up for vote at Tuesday's meeting of the airport board at Port Columbus. 

 

Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2009/09/28/airport_business.ART_ART_09-28-09_A8_EDF6KVV.html?sid=101

Rickenbacker-Myrtle Beach flights to begin in April

Business First of Columbus

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

 

The charter service that came to Columbus’ Rickenbacker International Airport two years ago is set to begin its third season of flights to Myrtle Beach.  The Columbus Regional Airport Authority said Myrtle Beach Direct Air & Tours’ twice-weekly service to the vacation and golf hot spot gets off the ground April 21.  Flights will depart Wednesdays and Saturdays at 6:45 p.m. 

 

No official date is set for a cut-off on service this year, but Angie Tabor, an airport authority spokeswoman, said Direct Air ran flights last year through Labor Day.  The company first came to Rickenbacker in 2008, marking Rickenbacker’s second foray to Myrtle Beach.  Hooters Air offered Myrtle Beach flights beginning in December 2003, months after Rickenbacker opened a $12 million passenger terminal, but charter service dried up a few years later as fuel costs mounted.

 

Full story at http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2010/01/04/daily27.html

From: Business First - 1/26/10

 

Cargo traffic at Rickenbacker International Airport, which saw monthly plunges of more than 40 percent earlier in the year, finished 2009 down 21 percent at 158.5 million pounds of cargo.  That’s after a 6 percent drop in December traffic, which totaled 15.1 million pounds.

 

Full article at http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2010/01/25/daily20.html

Columbus-Franklin County Finance Authority stepping in to aid Rickenbacker roadwork

Business First of Columbus - by Adrian Burns

Friday, February 12, 2010

 

A year-long effort by Pizzuti Cos. to attract state help for road improvements near one of its Central Ohio industrial developments may soon bear fruit.  State officials have given preliminary approval for a $6.1 million forgivable loan to the Columbus-Franklin County Finance Authority, which plans to lend the money to Pizzuti for infrastructure improvements around the developer’s Rickenbacker West Industrial Park.

 

Authority Executive Director Jean Carter Ryan said the arrangement would aid the Columbus-based company while potentially spurring development elsewhere in the Rickenbacker distribution hub.  The authority plans to use money repaid by Pizzuti to make other loans for logistics projects, Carter Ryan said.

 

The industrial park is the site of a 1.6 million-square-foot Whirlpool Corp. distribution facility.  The improvements include resurfacing Shook Road north of London-Groveport Road and adding turning lanes into the park.

 

More at http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2010/02/15/story5.html

Rickenbacker officials await liftoff of air freight business

Business First of Columbus - by Adrian Burns

Tuesday, June 1, 2010, 8:00am EDT

 

Decades after its transition from a military base, Rickenbacker International Airport still struggles to become a major player in the air cargo business.  It has been 30 years since the Rickenbacker Port Authority was created to take over the military base and its thousands of acres of land from the government.  The transition and subsequent development of the former base has emerged as one of the longest running and most complex economic development efforts undertaken in Central Ohio.

 

Yet it also has been a fluid 30 years that saw early hopes for the development of air cargo shift, while trucking and warehousing successes piled up as area officials focused more on ground transport demand.  The result is a development that has emerged not primarily as an air cargo hub envisioned early on by planners, but as a logistics nexus that closely reflects the demands of shippers throughout the U.S. – ground freight dominates and air freight plays a small but important role. 

 

“Such a dominant share of cargo itself is carried by rail and truck, to not emphasize those would be foolish,” said Mike Webber, owner of the Kansas City, Mo.-based consulting firm Webber Air Cargo Inc.  “I think what they did in Columbus was recognize that it’s not about the mode of transportation; it’s about transportation and distribution regardless of the mode.”

 

Full article: http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2010/05/31/focus1.html?b=1275278400^3423961

Ohio vies for huge cargo jets

Rickenbacker, Toledo among airports that want to land new 747-8

Tuesday, April 12, 2011  03:06 AM

By Chris Hawley

 

NEW YORK — The biggest version yet of Boeing’s 747 soon could be flying into airports that have never handled aircraft that large, raising hackles among some airport neighbors.

 

Toledo is one of the airports that asked for and received a waiver to be allowed to handle the huge 747-8 freighter.

 

In Columbus, Rickenbacker Airport also is seeking approval to land the planes. The South Side cargo airport already “accommodates the largest air-cargo aircraft in the world,” said David Whitaker, vice president of business development for the Columbus Regional Airport Authority

 

Read more at: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2011/04/12/ohio-vies-for-huge-cargo-jets.html?sid=101

Rickenbacker takes step to replace tower

$1 million state grant to cover preparation; $5 million more to go

Tuesday, April 12, 2011 

By Marla Matzer Rose, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Rickenbacker Airport, used primarily for cargo shipping, wants to replace its more-than-60-year-old control tower by 2014.  Yesterday, that $6 million project received its first funding commitment in the form of a state grant for a bit more than $1million.

 

The Columbus Regional Airport Authority is trying to identify additional grants, including from possible military sources, to pay the rest of the cost, said authority spokeswoman Angie Tabor.

 

READ MORE: http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/business/stories/2011/04/12/copy/rickenbacker-takes-step-to-replace-tower.html?adsec=politics&sid=101

Rickenbacker still in red as county’s subsidy deal expires

By Lucas Sullivan, The Columbus Dispatch

Wednesday, January 18, 2012 - 4:55 AM

 

Rickenbacker Airport is in its final year of a 10-year, $43 million subsidy from Franklin County taxpayers but is still not profitable and is struggling to land a major cargo-shipping business to wean itself off public assistance.

 

County and Rickenbacker officials have used tax dollars to try to get the airport in the black since 1981, when it was converted from a military air base to a cargo operation.  The county has since invested $131.2 million, and the airport was to have been solvent by the end of this year.

 

The county agreed to pay $4.3 million a year for 10 years beginning in 2002, the same year Rickenbacker was merged with Port Columbus under one authority.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/01/18/rickenbacker-still-in-red-as-deal-expires.html

Re-cap of Rickenbacker Airport's 2011 cargo numbers in this article about Port Columbus and Rickenbacker's yearly totals:

 

Port Columbus’ numbers up; Rickenbacker’s down

By Steve Wartenberg, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Wednesday, January 25, 2012 - 5:38 AM

 

Air-cargo totals at Rickenbacker increased during the last few months of the year, including a 19.8 gain in December over the 2010 total from the same month.

 

However, that was not enough to offset earlier declines year-over-year, and Rickenbacker finished the year at 146.2 million pounds of cargo handled.  That represented a decrease of 7.6 million pounds — or 5 percent — from the previous year.

 

The loss was attributed to FedEx, Rickenbacker’s largest user.  The cargo airline hauled about 10.5 million pounds less in 2011 than the previous year.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2012/01/25/port-columbus-numbers-up-rickenbackers-down.html

Direct Florida flights coming to Rickenbacker

Business First by Adrian Burns, Staff reporter

Date: Wednesday, February 15, 2012, 2:21pm EST

 

Year-round direct flights to Florida are coming to Rickenbacker International Airport.  Myrtle Beach, S.C.-based Direct Air said Wednesday that it will begin offering twice weekly direct flights to Lakeland Linder Regional Airport starting June 17.

 

MORE: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2012/02/15/direct-florida-flights-coming-to.html

Rickenbacker Int'l: An Economic Engine by Air, Rail & Road

By Rebecca Kanable

An online enhancement to: Airport Improvement Magazine - January-February 2013

 

While most airports are more than just airplanes and runways, Ohio's Rickenbacker International Airport (LCK) stretches the usual format further than most. In addition to cargo, military and passenger services, it also includes rail and trucking. As such, the airport is a key component of the Rickenbacker Inland Port - one of the largest integrated logistics complexes in the United States.

"We refer to it as an inland port because we don't have a natural body of water for ships, but we have everything else," explains Elaine Roberts, A.A.E., president and CEO of Columbus Regional Airport Authority.

 

With large cargo as its focus, LCK has two 12,000-foot runways, 200,000+ square feet of air cargo facility space and 130 acres of uncongested cargo ramp with a hydrant fueling system. Cargo activity is generated by a network of express and all-cargo carriers, including FedEx, UPS, AirNet, Evergreen, Kalitta, Atlas and others.

 

The Norfolk Southern Rickenbacker Intermodal Terminal, which marries rail and truck transportation, is capable of handling more than 400,000 containers annually. Norfolk Southern operates the intermodal terminal and the most extensive intermodal network in the East. CSX Corporation also provides rail service from nearby Rickenbacker. CEVA and Towne Air Freight are among a multitude of trucking companies serving the area; and Forward Air makes the intermodal terminal home of its North American trucking hub and the heart its operations that serve 85 U.S. and Canadian cities.

 

Read more at: http://www.airportimprovement.com/content/story.php?article=00451

Allegiant adding year-round St. Petersburg air service at Rickenbacker

By Evan Weese, Staff reporter

Business First - August 20, 2013, 10:34am EDT

 

Travelers from Columbus will have another way of reaching the Tampa Bay area, even when the weather is Florida-like in Central Ohio.

 

Low-cost carrier Allegiant Air on Nov. 23 will begin twice-weekly nonstop flights between Rickenbacker International Airport and St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport.  The year-round service will be Central Ohio’s only direct route to St. Petersburg, though Southwest Airlines makes a flight daily to neighboring Tampa International Airport from Port Columbus International Airport.

 

MORE: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/blog/2013/08/allegiant-adding-year-round-st.html

Rickenbacker might get new control tower

By Steve Wartenberg, The Columbus Dispatch

Saturday, January 25, 2014 - 5:26 AM

 

The airport authority could soon start construction of a new air-traffic control tower at Rickenbacker Airport, replacing an outdated structure that is more than 60 years old.  The board of the Columbus Regional Airport Authority is scheduled to vote on Tuesday on a contract that would start the process.  “If it passes, this resolution would allow Smoot (Construction) to do a cost-estimate exercise, and if the airport authority decided to proceed, it allows us to spend up to $7 million,” said Angie Tabor, spokeswoman for the airport authority.

 

Construction of the tower could start this year and take approximately 12 months to complete, Tabor said.  The new tower would be located close to the current one to take advantage of the existing infrastructure and of the view of the vast airfield it provides.  Rickenbacker is primarily an air-cargo airport but also has commercial flights and military operations.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2014/01/25/rickenbacker-might-get-new-control-tower.html

From Business First's report on 2013 passenger and cargo numbers released by the Columbus Regional Airport Authority at http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2014/01/29/port-columbus-hits-4-year-low-for.html:

 

"Separately, cargo hauled through Rickenbacker fell 14 percent in December and 2.4 percent throughout the year to 154 million pounds.  However, the cargo airport south of Columbus saw a big spike in passenger traffic, thanks to Allegiant Air’s new twice-weekly Florida flights to Orlando, and more recently, to St. Petersburg."

 

---

Previous years cargo numbers for Rickenbacker from http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2014/01/26/project-to-benefit-rickenbacker-cargo.html:

 

"Rickenbacker has seen the amount of cargo shipped through the airport grow from about 146.2 million pounds in 2011 to 157.4 million pounds in 2012.  Through the first 11 months of 2013, 140.5 million pounds of cargo went through the airport." (154 million pounds thru all of 2013)

 

Project to benefit Rickenbacker cargo

By Rick Rouan, The Columbus Dispatch

Sunday, January 26, 2014 - 7:59 AM

 

The $44.5 million Pickaway East-West Connector has been in the works for years.  Construction started in November 2012 on rerouting and widening Duvall Road to carry trucks between Rt. 23 and Ashville Pike.  Additional lanes also will be built on Ashville Pike.

 

State and local officials say the project is a linchpin for cargo going from railcars and planes landing at Rickenbacker to trucks that will move it to its final destination.  Without it, the only convenient ground route to the airport, a logistics park and a railcar-loading facility is from the north, said Bob Lawler, transportation director at the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission.  “It’s clearly a critical link in infrastructure development,” said Jeff Zimmerman, the director of the Columbus Region Logistics Council. 

 

The new Duvall Road will snake behind the houses that face the street and rise to a bridge over the railroad tracks.  Concrete will be poured this year, and the project should be completed in October, said Breanna Badanes, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Transportation.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2014/01/26/project-to-benefit-rickenbacker-cargo.html

 

This wiped out all the ribbon development on the west side of Ashville pike. Probably 15 houses and one business.

Rickenbacker is getting a boost to its cargo shipping operations with a couple of recent announcements.  First, an announcement that Amerijet International will begin using Rickenbacker as a cargo hub for its operations starting in July:  http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2014/04/23/rickenbacker-lands-new-weekly-cargo-flights-from.html

 

Then, an anouncement that an existing business at Rickenbacker - Cargolux -  will be expanding its Hong Kong to Rickenbacker cargo service beginning May 23:  http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/blog/2014/05/cargolux-expanding-hong-kong-to-columbus-cargo.html

Allegiant to offer Columbus flights to, from Fort Lauderdale starting in March

The Columbus Dispatch

Wednesday November 12, 2014 11:57 AM

 

Discount airline Allegiant Air has announced plans to offer nonstop service between Columbus and Fort Lauderdale beginning March 13. The flights will operate twice weekly between Rickenbacker Airport and Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood Airport.

 

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2014/11/12/allegiant-adds-service-to-fort-lauderdale.html

More Allegiant expansion at LCK,

 

Allegiant adds New Orleans destination from Rickenbacker

By Steve Wartenberg, The Columbus Dispatch

Tuesday November 18, 2014 11:05 AM

 

Allegiant Air has added New Orleans to its growing list of destinations from Rickenbacker. The airline will offer twice-weekly flights to and from Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport starting Feb. 5 and running through April 8.

 

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2014/11/18/allegiant-adds-New-Orleans-destination-from-Rickenbacker.html

Two recent articles about Rickenbacker Airport from Business First:

 

- County officials express concern over public subsidies still needed at Rickenbacker:  http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/print-edition/2014/10/17/rickenbacker-lacks-flight-plan-for-future.html

 

- Meanwhile, airport officials are proposing an ambitious 10-year capital improvement program:  http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2014/10/17/columbus-airport-officials-outline-10-year-91m.html

Columbus airports flying high in passengers, cargo

By Steve Wartenberg, The Columbus Dispatch

Wednesday, January 28, 2015 - 1:48 AM

 

At Rickenbacker Airport, the 2014 passenger total was 91,572, the second-highest total at the airport, which is starting to become more than a cargo hub.  ...  Allegiant Air started year-round service to Punta Gorda, Fla., and added seasonal service to Myrtle Beach, S.C., adding to its growing list of vacation destinations.  The airline will begin seasonal service to New Orleans this year.

 

The total amount of freight handled at Rickenbacker was 158 million pounds, a 2.9 percent increase from 2013.  Much of the gain came from the new international flights of Cathay Pacific and Cargolux that brought foreign goods here.

 

“It was a very, very good year for us,” said Elaine Roberts, CEO of the Columbus Regional Airport Authority. “The new international cargo activity at Rickenbacker has been nothing short of phenomenal.  We expect to build upon those numbers because both airlines have begun export service from Rickenbacker,” she said.  “They’re beginning to carry products made here in Ohio and beyond back to Europe and Asia.”

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2015/01/27/airport-passenger-traffic-rose-in-2014.html

More flights from Allegiant to LCK announced today.

 

I wonder if there's any chance of them relocating to Port Columbus in the future? CMH could use the additional traffic and competition, and a move would better position Allegiant for larger passenger numbers and possible future expansion to markets like Phoenix, Jacksonville, and Austin.

 

Allegiant adds flights from Rickenbacker to Savannah

By Steve Wartenberg, The Columbus Dispatch

Tuesday February 24, 2015 10:04 AM

 

Allegiant Air will launch seasonal service between Rickenbacker Airport and Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport starting June 4. The twice-weekly Savannah service adds to the growing list of Allegiant flights between Rickenbacker and warm-weather vacation destinations.

 

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2015/02/24/0224-Allegiant-adds-flights-from-Rickenbacker-to-Savannah.html

Huge new distribution center could land at Rickenbacker

By Brian R. Ball, Staff reporter - Columbus Business First

April 29, 2015, 11:04am EDT

 

Count the Columbus Regional Airport Authority and joint-venture partner Duke Realty Corp. as the likely winners of the BASF Corp. project announced earlier this week.

 

Germany-based BASF received a state incentive Monday from the Ohio Tax Credit Authority to lure a regional distribution center on an undisclosed site in Pickaway County for a distribution operation.

 

Those knowledgeable of the Rickenbacker International Airport-anchored distribution submarket read “Pickaway County” as code for the intermodal yard at the Rickenbacker Global Logistics Park.

   

MORE: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/blog/2015/04/basf-distribution-center-could-land-at.html

Emirates carrier to fly cargo to Rickenbacker

By Steve Wartenberg, The Columbus Dispatch

Tuesday May 5, 2015 2:48 AM

 

Emirates SkyCargo, the freight division of Emirates airline, today announced it will begin weekly cargo service to Rickenbacker starting May 27, according to officials of the Columbus Regional Airport Authority.

 

Columbus is Emirates’ 48th destination for air cargo and sixth in the United States, according to the company.

 

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2015/05/05/emirates-carrier-to-fly-cargo-to-columbus.html

Rickenbacker Airport marks progress on replacing tower

The Columbus Dispatch

Monday, June 15, 2015 - 7:26 AM

 

Work on the new air traffic-control tower at Rickenbacker Airport reached a milestone last week when the “cab,” or glass-enclosed work area atop the tower, was hoisted into place.

 

The tower is to replace the existing 1950s-era tower, operators of the airport said in a statement. ... Construction of the tower is expected to be complete in early 2016.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2015/06/15/rickenbacker-marks-progress-on-replacing-tower.html

$34M Rickenbacker intermodal expansion planned

By Evan Weese, Columbus Business First

Updated: June 30, 2015, 4:30pm EDT

 

Columbus officials and Norfolk Southern Corp. are planning a $34.3 million expansion of the Rickenbacker Intermodal Terminal to allow 40 percent more freight to move through the rail transportation hub south of the city, says an application for federal funding provided to Columbus Business First.

 

The Columbus Regional Airport Authority has requested $17.15 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation through a federal grant program, and, contingent upon that award, Norfolk Southern has promised to chip in $17.15 million.

 

Norfolk Southern opened its $69 million intermodal facility in 2008 with the help of Columbus’ airport agency, which oversees operations at both Port Columbus and Rickenbacker international airports. ... The Rickenbacker Intermodal Terminal is a key stop along the Heartland Corridor, a rail line running between the Port of Virginia and the Midwest.

 

MORE: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2015/06/30/exclusive-34m-rickenbacker-intermodal-expansion.html

Chemical company picks Rickenbacker's intermodal campus for distribution center

By Brian R. Ball, Staff Reporter

Columbus Business First - July 21, 2015, 12:13pm EDT

 

The Columbus Regional Airport Authority has landed BASF Corp. for a build-to-suit distribution center first announced in April.

 

Robin Holderman, the chief asset and development officer for the owner/operator of Rickenbacker International Airport, told me the authority and Rickenbacker Global Logistics Park partners Duke Realty Corp. and Capitol Square Ltd. signed a 10-year lease for the 421,200-square-foot project.

 

MORE: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2015/07/21/chemical-company-picks-rickenbackers-intermodal.html

L Brands unit joins public partners in funding Rickenbacker cargo terminal:  http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2015/09/17/l-brands-unit-joins-public-partners-in-funding.html

Foreign cargo airlines add flights into Rickenbacker:  http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2015/10/12/1-foreign-cargo-airlines-add-flights-into-rickenbacker.html

$34M Rickenbacker project in limbo after missing out on federal money

By Evan Weese, Staff Reporter - Columbus Business First

Updated: November 9, 2015, 3:54pm EST

 

A $34.3 million expansion of the Rickenbacker Intermodal Terminal is on hold after planners missed out on a share of $500 million in federal transportation grants.

 

The Columbus Regional Airport Authority had requested $17.15 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation for a public-private project that would create 88 jobs and allow 40 percent more freight to move through the rail transportation hub south of the city.

 

Contingent upon that award, Norfolk Southern Corp. had promised to invest $17.15 million in the facility it opened in 2008.

 

MORE: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2015/11/09/exclusive-34m-rickenbacker-project-in-limbo-after.html

Rickenbacker operator eyeing discounted purchase of former AirNet complex

By Evan Weese, Staff Reporter - Columbus Business First

Updated Jan 25, 2016, 2:21pm EST

 

An office building and hangar formerly occupied by AirNet Systems Inc. at Rickenbacker International Airport could be active again.

 

The Columbus Regional Airport Authority, which oversees operations at the cargo airport south of Columbus, plans to move its air cargo support functions to the complex that served as the center of operations for AirNet’s business of flying canceled bank checks around the country.

 

The airport authority on Tuesday will consider spending $2.96 million for the 148,170-square-foot complex at 7250 Star Check Drive, a steep discount on the $13 million paid by AirNet to construct the building in 2004.

 

MORE: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2016/01/25/rickenbacker-operator-eyeing-discounted-purchase.html

Rickenbacker turns record profit after years of deficits

By Marla Matzer Rose, The Columbus Dispatch

Wednesday, January 27, 2016 - 6:00 AM

 

Buoyed by increases in cargo shipments, Rickenbacker Airport achieved a record $1.67 million operating surplus last year.  The profit came largely from providing services such as cargo handling and fueling, and was aided by an overall increase in cargo flights, especially ones serving major local retailers such as L Brands and Abercrombie & Fitch.

 

The 2015 profit came after years of deficits.  Rickenbacker relied on millions of dollars in subsidies from Franklin County for a decade after it was merged with Port Columbus under the Columbus Regional Airport Authority in 2003.  Meanwhile, the airport and the intermodal cargo hub adjoining it — which handles combinations of shipments via rail, truck and air — continues to develop, though growth has been slower than many had hoped.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2016/01/27/1-rickenbacker-sets-record.html

Everybody thought the warehouse development there would become much larger and happen much more quickly. When the grandiose plans were announced in the '90s and early 2000s they didn't project that people would start buying a lot less stuff later in the decade.

A look at Rickenbacker's air cargo operations from AirCargoWorld.com:

 

http://aircargoworld.com/rickenbacker-revival-how-an-all-cargo-airport-found-a-new-spark/

Rickenbacker construction update from http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2016/09/25/1-airport-projects-ongoing-at-john-glenn.html

 

"Rickenbacker Airport, used mainly for cargo but also used for passenger flights by low-cost carrier Allegiant, work is set to begin next month on George Page Jr. Road, including the intersection at Port Road.  The project will involve restoring the pavement and widening a portion to accommodate increasing truck traffic in the area."

Hmm, I wonder if they are going to connect it to Hayes Road? This is close to where I live now so we'll just have to see. Yes I know, not much Groveport discussion on the UO.

Rickenbacker is primarily a commercial cargo airport now.  But at one time it was solely a military airbase.  And it still houses the Ohio Air National Guard's 121st Air Refueling Wing.  However, in times of emergency, the military part of Rickenbacker takes a higher profile.

 

Such as in recent days, when 30 F-22's were relocated from Langley AFB in Virginia to Rickenbacker to protect them from Hurricane Matthew:

 

http://nbc4i.com/2016/10/06/f-22-fighter-jets-stationing-at-rickenbacker-airport-during-hurricane-matthew/

 

http://myfox28columbus.com/news/local/the-f-22-comes-to-columbus

 

Allegiant adding new Florida route from Rickenbacker

 

Rickenbacker International Airport will pick up new twice-a-week service from Allegiant Air during the summer.

 

The low-cost carrier will fly nonstop Thursdays and Sundays from Columbus to Destin/Fort Walton Beach Airport in the Florida panhandle, starting May 25. The service will end Aug. 27, the airline said Tuesday.

 

More below:

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2017/01/10/allegiant-adding-new-florida-route-from.html

2016 report about Rickenbacker Airport issued by the Columbus Regional Airport Authority:  http://www.dispatch.com/news/20170124/john-glenn-airport-recorded-second-busiest-year-in-16

 

"At Rickenbacker International Airport, international cargo volume was up 16 percent year-over-year, though overall cargo increased by a more modest 1.8 percent, to 202 million pounds.  Airport officials said overall cargo tonnage would have increased 14 percent last year except for a limited-time surge in activity in 2015 caused by a West Cost seaport disruption."

 

"Low-budget carriers Frontier and Allegiant Air, which fly at Rickenbacker, have added new flights in the past year ... and are targeted mainly at leisure travelers, with two to three flights a week to popular vacation markets."

Booming Rickenbacker getting 1st master plan update in 20 years

 

Rickenbacker International Airport will be getting its first updated master plan in 20 years amid a boom in international cargo deliveries.  Keeping with Federal Aviation Administration recommendations for a refresh every two decades, the Columbus Regional Airport Authority expects to award a $1.63 million contract to Michael Baker International Inc. for a master plan and airport layout plan update for the south Columbus facility.

( . . . )

The FAA suggested the update as Rickenbacker experiences a surge of cargo activity, growing to 90,000 metric tons last year from about 78,000 a year earlier and 70,000 in 2013. ... The updated master plan will be 90 percent funded by the FAA, with the remainder paid for by capital reserves of the Columbus Regional Airport Authority, which also oversees John Glenn Columbus International Airport. ... The project is expected to start at the beginning of 2017 and take about 20 months to complete.

 

MORE:  http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2016/07/20/booming-rickenbacker-getting-1st-master-plan.html

Public input sought on Rickenbacker’s first master plan update in 20 years

 

 

Rickenbacker International Airport is getting its first updated master plan in 20 years, and the cargo airport’s operator is seeking public input.

 

The Columbus Regional Airport Authority will host a pair of open house meetings on Feb. 22, where interested parties can learn about the master planning effort and provide ideas and feedback.

 

More below:

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2017/02/14/public-input-sought-on-rickenbacker-s-first-master.html

VanTrust opens $15M speculative distribution center near Rickenbacker

By Evan Weese, Staff Reporter - Columbus Business First

March 9, 2017, 2:18pm EST

 

A new distribution center near Rickenbacker International Airport is ready for occupancy.

 

VanTrust Real Estate LLC has completed its $15.2 million industrial building at 3219 Rohr Road in Groveport, a 567,000-square-foot facility that is among Central Ohio’s largest speculative developments in years.

 

MORE: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2017/03/09/vantrust-opens-15m-speculative-distribution-center.html