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Air cargo demand is rising fast and experts say a new regional airport will be needed



Air Shipping Is Growing Fast, and Experts Say a New Local Airport Will Be Needed

The debate over a proposed 20 million-plus passenger airport at El Toro has somewhat overshadowed the quietly and steadily growing reliance by Orange County companies on air cargo, which has supplanted ocean shipping as the most popular means, in dollar terms, of exporting goods.

OC now sends about 60% of its exports by air,last year about $7.8 billion of the county’s $13 billion in total exports were shipped out via air cargo. And air cargo exports are expected to triple in the next 20 years.

Cargo industry officials believe the region’s facilities can’t handle that much growth without a new airport.

“We’ve got to develop a distributed cargo strategy,LAX is feeling the growing pains,” said Lee Harrington, president of the World Trade Center Association Los Angeles-Long Beach. “We need more air cargo capacity than even Ontario International has to offer.”

The region relies heavily on Los Angeles International and Ontario International airports for air cargo shipments. John Wayne Airport in Irvine handles only a modest amount of air cargo.

Regional planners want to move airports that handle cargo closer to exporting companies to reduce truck trips through both Los Angeles and OC. Harrington said the big hole in the region’s cargo strategy is in OC.

“We need more airport capacity handling cargo closer to the markets they are trying to serve to reduce the amount of truck traffic,” he said. “That’s where OC is lacking.”

The Southland is expected to add 5 million people and about 2.7 million cars over the next two decades,a foreboding prospect considering the region’s freeways already are chronically congested. And as traffic worsens, sending goods to airports outside OC stands to become progressively more cumbersome and time-consuming.

Industry officials say that further expanding Ontario and using March Air Force Base and San Bernardino to handle cargo still won’t add enough capacity to handle long-term forecasted air cargo levels in the region.

But air cargo expansion is even more of a political hot potato than passenger flights, since much air cargo flies at night,a hot-button issue for residents near any proposed airport.

While water is the most cost-effective way to move bulk cargo, air has the advantage of speed. As such it is growing in popularity, particularly among OC technology companies.

While the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach make up the second-biggest port system, next only to Hong Kong, Los Angeles International Airport alone handles more exports, in dollar terms.

In 1999, LAX handled $35.9 billion in merchandise exports, compared with $28.4 billion that went out through the local ports.

High-tech companies in particular export more by air,through companies such as FedEx Corp., United Parcel Service Inc. and DHL Worldwide Express Inc.,than they do via sea.

“Air is used for premium products that have to be moved quickly and can’t afford the two or three weeks that water shipping requires,” said Port of Long Beach spokesman Art Wong. “This means high-technology stuff,semiconductors, computer equipment and medical devices.”

Companies working under the just-in-time production model, including many semiconductor makers, prefer shipping services that can offer next-day delivery,meaning air.

Much of what goes by sea is raw materials like cotton and leather hides,materials that companies in places like Asia use for manufacturing. n

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