Eastern Iowa Airport and UPS Announce New $10.2 Million Facility

A new cargo facility announced jointly by the Eastern Iowa Airport and United Parcel Service (UPS) continues the trend of huge growth at the airport on Cedar Rapids' south side.

Representatives from UPS and the Eastern Iowa Airport broke ground Wednesday on a new cargo facility that UPS will use as a sorting and distribution facility. UPS will lease the new 40,000 square-foot building from the airport for 10 years, with an option to add 20 more years to that lease. UPS currently leases a 6,300 square-foot building at the airport.

The groundbreaking for the new cargo facility comes after the airport completed its cargo apron that allows a couple Boeing 747's or four Boeing 767's to sit side-by-side. That cargo apron is needed. According to the Gazette, from August of 2018 through August of this year, the amount of cargo coming into the Eastern Iowa Airport increased by 8-and-a-half percent. At the end of 2017, stats show the airport was responsible for 44 percent of total cargo volume in Iowa.

The new cargo facility is expected to open in the spring of 2021. Though UPS says they'll add workers at the airport, there's no estimate on how many people that will be.