Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW ) will close this year with a slight increase of between 2% and 3% in cargo handling , close to 800 thousand tons year-on-year, according to its own forecasts.
Milton de la Paz, vice president of Airline Relations and Cargo Business Development at DFW Airport, explained that there are several factors that prevent further growth, such as lack of capacity.
He explained, for example, that they have a strong cargo network to Asia, almost all the key cargo ships operate in DFW, however, not much is exported, so a better balance is required, having more capacity from Mexico and South America so that they can feed the cargo ships that return to that continent.
He explained that another factor is that almost a million tons of cargo are transported from Texas to other airports by land , such as Los Angeles or Chicago, as well as to Miami, where, for example, flights are made to South America.
“We need that capacity to capture that cargo. We are talking with companies, with more maquiladoras in Juarez that take all their cargo that goes to South America through El Paso, they take it up to Miami to take it to Brazil, that takes 14 days and if we had a freighter from Dallas to Brazil, that could be done in three days and 10 days would be saved,” he explained in an interview with T21.
He recalled that it was in 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, when DFW managed to move one million tons, which has gradually decreased.
However, he said they are also investing $200 million in new cargo facilities, given the growth of the sector and their strategy to receive more international e-commerce .
“In fact, part of our strategy is to manage e-commerce in Asia and connect it to Mexico, because we know that there is a very strong demand in Mexico and e-commerce companies are very interested in the growth they are seeing in the country,” he said without giving further details.
In this regard, he mentioned that for the first time in its history they will be the owners of the new cargo terminals , “in this way we can control who operates in our airport, we can ensure that the level of security, efficiency and cargo handling is the highest, because we decide who operates in our airport.”
De la Paz reiterated that they are continuing talks with a Mexican cargo company that is currently waiting for new aircraft to begin operating in Dallas Fort Worth.
In addition, his plans include starting to transport pharmacists from India, China and Europe to Mexico and South America, “but that takes time, because years of experience and trust must be demonstrated.”
They are going for more infrastructure
He also said that they were investing more than nine billion dollars in various works , both for maintenance and for new projects. The first phase of these works will be ready in 2027.
He explained that part of the investment will be for infrastructure inside and outside the airport terminals and for new highways and bridges adjacent to this infrastructure.
He also mentioned that nine additional boarding gates, cargo warehouses and a power station will be built.
“The investments are all over the airport, not only in passenger terminals, but also in cargo terminals and in infrastructure, which is also important,” he said.
By 2030, DFW expects passenger traffic of more than 100 million passengers, an aggressive growth, but by the end of this year alone they expect a 10% increase compared to 2023, which was close to 80 million passengers. While by 2025 they estimate it will be 90 million users.
“We are receiving 300 thousand passengers a day, which is the equivalent of three Azteca stadiums,” he said.
Comment and follow us on X: @evandeltoro / @GrupoT21
