A.P. Moller - Maersk opened a new freight hub near Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) as it looks to grow its air cargo network in North America, according to an Oct. 3 release.
The 130,000-square-foot air facility triples its West Coast capacity, allowing for “more supply chain integration opportunities and better scaling to care for seasonal peaks as well as market driven volume spikes for breakout product launches,” according to the release.
The gateway, which is also located roughly nine miles from the Port of Long Beach, offers direct planeside recovery and immediate unit load device transfers, according to the release. To drive timely and secure air freight handling, Maersk’s site is a U.S. Customs bonded Container Freight Station and U.S. Transportation Security Administration Certified Cargo Screening Facility.
In 2024, the facility is scheduled to be a Free Trade Zone to benefit from lower duties, reduced processing fees and even faster movement of volumes.
The LAX facility is the most recent effort in Maersk’s North American capacity expansion program that targets strategic cargo entry points to accommodate customer demand. LAX is one of the largest cargo handling airports in the world, and is a major gateway between Asia-Pacific and the U.S. In 2022, LAX handled 2,754,579 tons of cargo.
Despite a slowdown in air freight demand, the ocean carrier continues to persist with its air freight ambitions.
The shipping company announced the inception of Maersk Air Cargo in 2022, and since then has consistently bolstered its freighter network between Asia-Pacific, the U.S. and Europe. For instance, this year Maersk doubled its weekly rotations between Chicago (RFD) and China (HGH), while flights between South Carolina (GSP), Korea (ICN) and China (SHE) increased from two to three.
Maersk also opened air cargo gateways near Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) and Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) this year.
