Amazon is moving forward with plans for a $1.5B international Amazon Air hub at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. Until the new facility is ready, the retail giant is leasing space from DHL.
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DHL also operates a global hub out of the airport and will probably help Amazon reach international customers even after the Amazon Air hub is finished, Construction Dive reports.
Amazon Air, formerly known as Amazon Prime Air, is a cargo airline brand name for Amazon's freight delivery service. Amazon Prime Air is now the company's name for its conceptual service that may eventually deliver packages by drone, and isn't related to the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport facility.
To help facilitate the new hub, Amazon acquired 210 more acres recently. That land adjoins the 900 acres the company is leasing from the airport for 50 years.
When complete, the hub will measure more than 3M SF to serve Amazon customers, and be home to a fleet of more than 100 Amazon Air cargo planes.
The state's Economic Development Finance Authority gave preliminary approval for a $40M tax credit as long as Amazon creates 600 jobs. Amazon is no stranger to public subsidies from the commonwealth: Since 2000, the authority has approved about $80M of incentives for Amazon, which operates 11 fulfillment centers in Kentucky.
Construction of the airport facility is slated to start next year, with partial operations beginning in 2020. Full build-out will be by 2025.
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