UPS to expand Kansas City hub

United Parcel Service (UPS) will expand its ramp space at Kansas City Int’l Airport after the Kansas City Aviation Department approved the requisite lease agreements. A municipal statement said that works are set to begin later this year with completion in late 2021. Thereafter, the UPS Airlines (5X, Louisville Int’l) ramp will measure 49,610 square meters, enough space to simultaneously park five wide-body freighters. The project will also involve a complete renovation of UPS’s existing 4,645 square metre sorting facility where new state-of-the-art sorting equipment will increase package handling capacity from 1,500 to 5,000 packages per hour. UPS launched air operations from Kansas City International in 1986, and now operates six flights per day. UPS leases the facility from Aeroterm. “Through City Council approval, the Aviation Department extended the lease with Aeroterm another 30 years, which provides its tenant UPS the opportunity to significantly expand its operation at the airport,” it said. “UPS also anticipates hiring about 60 new employees to help sort packages once the project is complete.” UPS Central Plains District President Darren Jones said the decision to increase its Kansas presence came as a result of a surge in demand for shipping, primarily due to e-commerce, in northwest Missouri and northeast Kansas. According to Kansas City statistics, for the year ending July 2020, UPS ranks as the second largest carrier at the airport having hauled almost 14,000 tonnes of cargo accounting for a 27.7% share. The lion share of Kansas’s cargo traffic throughput belongs to FedEx Express with 32,332 tonnes (64%).