Chicago Rockford International Airport marks 10 years as international port

ROCKFORD – The decade since the federal government designated Chicago Rockford International Airport as an official U.S. port of entry has been a good one for the facility, according to its director.

That 2004 designation helped the airport find its growing niche for leisure travel, which now sees more than 250,000 people a year taking vacation flights to warm places. It also expanded the airport’s status as a major hub for cargo flights, evidenced in part by the 600,000-square-foot UPS operation on the its grounds.

So what’s it meant for the area, and what could it mean in the future for McHenry County? The answer, Executive Director Mike Dunn said, is convenience, commerce and jobs, especially with more than $90 million in improvements over the past two years – including recent renovations to both runways – and a major aircraft mechanics business project in the works.

But many county residents mostly know it for a way to get to Cancun, Las Vegas and other sunny destinations with much less hassle than O’Hare or Midway. Apple Vacations flies charter flights out of the airport to Cancun, Puerto Vallarta and Punta Cana, while service to Las Vegas, Phoenix and several Florida destinations is provided by Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air.

“We’ve been working on developing our niche here. One thing we’re clearly good at is leisure vacation travel. I hate to peg us here, but we’re a vacation airport,” Dunn said. “Going through arrival and customs at O’Hare is kind of a pain in the neck, and it can take hours. Ours is about 32 minutes to get through here.”

Dunn said the airport wants to grow its vacation market, and is looking to companies specializing in European charters. Rockford has helped the bottom line of local travel agencies like Crystal Lake Travel, which sells Apple vacations among others, co-owner Sue Swett said. Most of the agency’s clients fly out of O’Hare, and Chicago Rockford is the second-most popular for them.

“The draw for Rockford is a couple of different things – the price is often lower, it’s easy to get to, and there’s free parking,” Swett said.

But other changes are coming that will improve the airport’s status as an area economic engine, Dunn said.

Wood Dale-based AAR Corp. – the nation’s largest aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul company with a presence in 17 countries – announced in August that it will occupy a $40 million, 200,000-square foot facility for 24-hour operations that will create at least 500 new jobs. Each hangar is large enough to be able to service an Airbus A380, the world’s largest passenger airliner.

As part of the agreement, Rock Valley Community College will expand its aircraft maintenance training facility at the airport from 10,000 to 40,000 square feet in order to increase the number of students from 30 to 150 to meet demand.

“They’ve had a maintenance school at the airport for 25, 30 years, but we needed them to expand it,” Dunn said.

As far as McHenry County is concerned, a major but underutilized aspect of Chicago Rockford Airport is its designation as a foreign trade zone by the U.S. Department of Commerce, McHenry County Economic Development Corp. President Pam Cumpata said. Such a designation helps encourage foreign commerce by allowing both domestic and foreign commercial goods to be held without being subject to tariffs or value taxes.

The airport is currently the 23rd busiest hub for cargo flights.

One of the four businesses authorized by the U.S. Department of Commerce to operate in the airport’s zone is UniCarriers Americas Corp., formerly Nissan Forklift, the Marengo plant that builds forklifts for the company’s Western Hemisphere dealerships. When it comes to Chicago Rockford’s impact on local industry, Cumpata said she is “looking at more future than past.”

“That foreign trade zone that operates out of Rockford is important to us, and it’s had an important impact … we’re trying to expand it even broader,” Cumpata said.

Dunn said he ranks the airport’s current capacity at about 1.5 on a 10-point scale, and that ongoing improvements will only serve to improve the business environment of the region around it. It’s on that note that he said he considers long-discussed plans to build a third, south-suburban Chicago airport in Peotone in Will County to be misguided. Dunn argues that a third airport already exists in Rockford, with a direct shot to Chicago via I-90 and significant growth potential.

“There’s absolutely no reason to build a third airport – the huge growth is coming west and northwest,” Dunn said.

Source:

http://www.nwherald.com/2014/12/10/chicago-rockford-international-airport-marks-10-years-as-international-port/at1ku29/