Miami International Airport is in talks with a company that wants to help double cargo capacity within three to five years by building a five-tier cargo structure. CCR + Airis made the unsolicited offer last year, aviation communications director Greg Chin confirmed to Miami Today.

The privately funded $ 1.1 billion project would span 29.4 acres under a ground lease with the airport for a freight building in MIA’s West Freight Zone. “The facility is designed to optimize freight operations over a small land area with new logistics technologies within a vertical platform,” the unsolicited proposal states.

The Aviation Department hasn’t decided what to do, Chin told Miami Today via email. “We have only received the proposal and have not yet determined how we want to proceed,” he wrote.

The five-tier project includes fully automated and mechanized cargo handling with intelligent truck docks, dock operations, cargo acceptance, intermediate automated storage and retrieval systems, robotic assembly / disassembly stations , an airside, administrative offices, childcare for employees and more.

The proposal provides for 48-month construction and a “temporary building” strategy to complete the construction phasing.

The CCR Group is one of the world’s leading investors in transportation, aviation and mobility infrastructure, established in 1999. Airis International Holdings LLC is an aviation facilities development company founded in 1994. They have partnered to offer the vertically integrated freight community.
Aviation Director Ralph Cutie told a county commission committee that MIA carried a record 2.3 million tonnes of cargo last year and is on track to surpass it this year. Expanding air cargo is one of the goals of the airport’s $ 5 billion Capital Improvement Program (CIP) established in 2019.

This month, Cutie told Miami Today that MIA is the first of the US airports for international cargo and the third for cargo, which includes freight and mail. “In addition, in the world, we are ninth for international freight and ninth for total freight, so we are in the top 10 worldwide,” he said.

As airline freight is expected to increase 7.9% this year from pre-covid 2019 totals, and by 2022 demand will rise 13.2% above pre-pandemic levels, According to an estimate from the International Air Transport Association, the commissioners are discussing how to improve the airport’s facilities. .

Commissioner Jean Monestime told the committee meeting that he was troubled by the state of the current infrastructure. Operations director Jimmy Morales has promised to point out where aviation officials and outside experts need to share how best to handle cargo at MIA.

As part of the continued expansion and pressure to improve airport facilities, DHL announced last week that it had invested $ 78 million to renovate and expand its facilities at the Miami Hub.

“I wonder how much more we could accomplish if it was more up to date, if we were ready for the technology, if we had the right kind of infrastructure that we need,” Monestime said.

Freight operations encompass 34.9% of MIA’s net exploitable land, but only 6.6% of the airport’s total revenue, a letter from CCR and Airis said. “This disparity presents a simple opportunity to dramatically increase revenue per acre for MIA,” they wrote. “The current conditions and planning of the CIP cannot meet this demand. “