Philadelphia International Airport is ready to start tripling its air cargo footprint, writes Ryan Mulligan for Philadelphia Business Journal.

PHL is set to break ground in the coming months on a $15 million nine-acre, 70,000-square-foot air-support facility on the grounds of the former economy parking.

It will house maintenance and cleaning crews for passenger planes now staying in an 80,000 square-foot C2 facility on the tarmac. 

The C2 building will be converted for cargo use, which will also have 35,000 to 40,000 square feet of added cargo processing space.

It’s all part of a partnership with Aviation Facilities Company Management (AFCO) to add 136 acres to PHL’s air cargo capacity in a $90 million project.

The changeover will generate thousands of jobs and have an economic impact worth billions.

The goal is to make Philadelphia Airport competitive with places like New York.

“New York is bursting at the seams. Most of the air cargo that’s handled in our catchment area goes right by our front door up to New York,” said PHL CFO Jim Tyrrell.

Philadelphia loses about $53 billion a year with the current setup, he said.

Read more at Philadelphia Business Journal about the first phase of the air cargo expansion at the Philadelphia Airport.

Here’s a 2021 end-of-year recap of Philadelphia International Airport’s cargo expansion.