Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport General Manager Miguel Southwell talked to the local Chamber of Commerce recently about air cargo, according to The Gwinnett Daily Post.
   “If you think of an airport as a plant, someplace where you process planes and people, you’re missing the point,” Southwell said.
   “While an airport is in the air transportation business, its main purpose is, as any community’s chief tool, to bring jobs and a wealth of people to that community … It really is the economic engine of the community that it serves.”
   “Cargo growth is the airport’s top goal, because officials see it as a way to turn Hartsfield-Jackson into a 24-hour economic engine for metro Atlanta,” Southwell said.
   “Without it, the airport ‘sputters’ in the overnight hours when passenger traffic is down,” he added.
   “We have less cargo warehouse space than the cargo we have, so we’re rushing to build more cargo space,” Southwell said.
   The new warehouse space is also part of a bid to jump into the top 5 airports globally for cargo capacity. Atlanta is currently No. 10 in the world, according to Southwell.
   “This month alone, the airport also added four new international cargo carriers, including China Cargo Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Russia-based AirBridge Cargo, and Belgium-based CAL.
   “Next year, Qatar (Airways) will start service and we’ll begin schedules by Turkish Airlines,” Mr. Southwell said.
   “Why is that important?
   “Because quite often, a lot of the freight comes with the passenger baggage as well,” the manager said.
Geoffrey