ROCKFORD (WREX) — The Chicago Rockford International Airport (RFD) announced record setting numbers for cargo and passengers at the airport in 2019.
The airport announced numbers increased in both areas, making it the largest year-to-date numbers in both areas.
In 2019, cargo numbers grew almost 11 percent over 2018 with more than 2.3 billion pounds of cargo traveling through the airport, compared to the 2.1 billion pounds in 2018 and 1.4 billion pounds in 2017.
The airport says they’ve tripled the amount of cargo landing in Rockford in the past five years.
“We continue to see the cargo numbers increase due to the partnerships RFD has secured and nurtured throughout the past several years,” said Mike Dunn, Executive Director at RFD. “In addition to our larger partners, we’ve been able to secure several additional organizations which further impacts our region’s job growth and economic development.”
The growth of the airport was evident last year as the airport was named in the top 20 for busiest cargo airports in July and then named as the fastest-growing cargo airport in the world in Sept.
The airport says the cargo success led to nearly 2,000 jobs being created in in 2019, both seasonal and permanent. The airport says they expect to see an additional 1,000 jobs added throughout 2020, but did not go into specifics.
RFD is expected to reach the Top 20 airports by cargo volume within the next two years. The airport is home to the second-largest UPS hub in North America and ABX Air, ATI and Atlas Air, which support daily flights from one of the world’s top consumer internet companies.
The airport also saw an increase in total passengers in 2019. Almost 250,000 travelers passed through its doors, the largest number ever recorded at RFD, according to the airport.
“We continue to connect with potential new partners on additional destinations and remain committed to providing our travelers with the best, hassle-free airport experience,” Dunn continued.
RFD is served by two passenger airlines, Allegiant Air and Apple Vacations, and serves eight nonstop destinations.
