The Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA) joined Air France KLM Martinair Cargo (AFKLMP) today to celebrate the opening of the carrier’s newly renovated cargo warehouse at O’Hare International Airport.

“O'Hare International Airport is a vital economic engine for the entire Chicago region, and air freight has been a predominant driver of our growth over the last several years," CDA Commissioner Jamie L. Rhee said. “AFKLMP Cargo’s warehouse renovation in the South Airfield helps bolster the capacity and efficiency of our cargo operations at one of the world's great cargo hubs, and I thank the entire team at AFKLMP for their commitment to the Chicago market."

“The Air France warehouse at ORD is a key asset with good growth outlook, which is why we have invested in both infrastructure and more resources at our ORD hub,” Air France Cargo Executive Vice President Christophe Boucher said. “After a six-month renovation period, we are proud to share that the capacity of our Chicago warehouse has increased by a sizeable 40%. This growth is supplemented by a streamlining of operational processes and reassessing the safety compliance of our warehouse, ensuring that our ORD cargo hub has optimized efficiency in order to offer to our Air France and KLM customers a best-in-class service to serve the Midwest Region.”

The renovations expanded the warehouse’s capacity to handle specialized cargo. Energy-efficient improvements like LED lighting and electric forklifts also reduced the facility’s energy consumption while maintaining its operational efficiency.

O’Hare has seen three years of record air cargo volumes, fueled by increased demand during the COVID-19 pandemic and a surge in e-commerce. The airport processed 2.2 million metric tonnes of cargo in 2022, following an all-time record cargo volume of more than 2.5 million metric tonnes in 2021.

In 2021 – the most recent year for which finalized data is available from Airports Council International (ACI) – O’Hare ranked the 11th busiest cargo airport in the world and the fifth busiest in the Americas by air cargo tonnage. O’Hare is the top ranked airport in the Americas by cargo value, processing approximately $300 billion in freight in 2021, an all-time record.

O’Hare has four airside cargo ramps with about 2 million square feet of space and the capacity to handle 40 jumbo freighters at a time, in addition to 2 million square feet of on-airport landside cargo facilities. O’Hare’s cargo operations support approximately 5,000 jobs daily, with another 10,000 cargo-related jobs within a mile of the airport.

The third phase of O’Hare’s state-of-the-art Northeast Cargo Campus is expected to open this summer, adding an additional 125,000 square foot facility and creating 500 new jobs.