United is betting
on Hawaii as cargo hub
Its new freight-transfer facility
By Russ Lynch
will let it fill the cargo holds
of airliners that stop here
Star-BulletinUnited Airlines plans to turn Hawaii into a significant international freight hub when its $7.8 million cargo-transfer facility at Honolulu Airport opens late next year. "What it really does is it allows us to compete in the global market," said Norm Reeder, United's managing director-Hawaii. "We can move a whole lot of freight through Honolulu."
Gov. Ben Cayetano attended a ground-breaking ceremony yesterday for the facility, on a 6.7-acre site off Aolele Street on the ewa side of the airport.
United can't say yet how much freight will pass through Honolulu but Reeder said cargo is becoming more important to the airline, which is well on its way toward meeting its goal of $1 billion in annual revenue from cargo alone. It has six all-freight DC-10s in service on long-haul flights linking Asia to Anchorage, Alaska, major North American points and Europe.
The heaviest freight volume will be on those longer routes. But Honolulu will be important because United has about 18 round-trips a day to Honolulu, about half from the mainland and half from Asia, Reeder said. They have heavy passenger traffic but that doesn't fill the bellies which often have plenty of cargo space, he said.
Chicago-based United will start its Honolulu Airport cargo hub with a 58,000-square-foot warehouse, including a 4,000-square-foot refrigerator and a 1,000-square-foot freezer. The building will be expandable to 110,000 square feet and the freezer can expand to 6,000 square feet, United said. It will be able to handle United's largest aircraft, including the Boeing 777s.
One feature is a "lift pit," a mechanical system that allows cargo pallets to be stacked and then lowered. Once the aircraft is rolled over the pit, the pallets are lifted to be stowed aboard.
