Chicago Rockford outlines its cargo ambitions
Chicago Rockford (RFD) is an airport on the rise, with a recent spate of freighter wins helping to propel cargo volumes to near record levels.
Speaking to Air Cargo News, executive director Zack Oakley says the airport came agonisingly close to registering record volumes in 2025.
"Last year we were less than one freighter away from breaking our all-time record, which was set during Covid," explains Oakley.
In total, the airport handled 1.5m tonnes of cargo in 2025 - a 9.5% year-on-year increase and just 50 tonnes behind the 2022 record.
This year, the airport has added two new flights from DSV - one from Luxembourg and the other from Incheon - and another from Chinese e-commerce logistics firm Rich Sale International that connects the Illinois airport with Jinan Yaoqiang International Airport in China using Atlas Air metal twice a week.
Oakley says DSV sees RFD as a strategic opportunity, capitalising on a secondary market in the same way it has at its main US air hub of Huntsville.
Oakley adds that the higher fuel prices as a result of the US-Iran war have resulted in some opportunities being pushed back but he is hopeful they will eventually come through.
"Hopefully that [higher fuel prices] starts to calm down a little bit and open back up for us. But overall it has been a solid year," says Oakley, explaining that cargo volumes are tracking a couple of percent below last year's levels.
Asked what has attracted freighter operators to RFD, Oakley says it is the speed at which cargo can exit the airport compared with the more congested Chicago O'Hare.
"We are uncongested and have access to the Midwest market, but are not the primary passenger hub," he says.
"A lot of it is relationships as well. For example, with DSV we have worked well with them over the years trying to figure out when we can bring some opportunities back."
RFD is one of a number of airports that have capitalised on a lack of capacity at nearby passenger hubs to capture the freighter flights, and Oakley expects that trend to continue.
"The challenge for us, and I'm sure other airports as well, is not so much capability; it is changing the mindset and getting people to understand it is not different.
"A consistent conversation we have with the airlines is, the airline has no problem operating at Rockford but what do the forwarders and shippers want to do? We are working not just with the airline or the forwarder but also with the shipper.
"We have seen good success when we get the opportunity to show the shippers the advantage of being in Rockford, at an airport that is uncongested and freighter-focused.
"It is pretty simple to understand why would you want to deal with congestion, being behind all the passenger aircraft, roadway congestion.
"They are also starting to see how the operational caps they have at O'Hare affect arrival times, affect slot availability. We don't have any of those challenges."
Bellyhold challenge
Another challenge often faced by freighter hubs is the fact that at some stage in the journey, cargo will be transported in the bellyhold of passenger aircraft. With minimal passenger services, this can be problematic for the cargo-focused airports.
To help solve this problem, RFD is launching an express shuttle service connecting with O'Hare to supplement services already on offer.
Meanwhile, Oakley adds that Amazon Air Cargo and its partner Avianca offer intra-Americas flights from RFD, helping ease some of those connectivity issues.
"Amazon Air Cargo has been selling Rockford quite heavily, and it gives us that domestic connectivity," he says.
"They are also offering South American connections with Avianca through Rockford and we are seeing the benefit of acting as a transit hub with that."
Another major development close to the Midwest Airport this year has been the start of work on a new logistics facility located close to the airport.
The 334,800 sq ft facility is the first phase of the Rockford Logistics Park 20 and will accommodate air cargo, logistics, distribution, light manufacturing and assembly operations, with the flexibility to serve either a single occupant or multiple tenants.
The facility, which is expected to open in April next year, is located one mile away from the airport and is being developed by Hillwood.
Oakley describes Hillwood as a major logistics real estate developer and says that the start of construction is another indication of the continued investment being made around the airport and the growing demand for logistics facilities in the area.
The airport itself has plans to develop a warehouse with cool chain facilities to cater for pharma shipments.
"We have been waiting for a handling company to make a big investment, or an airline to make a big investment [in cool chain] but the reality is it is one of those chicken-and-egg scenarios - it's never going to come if you don't have the facilities.
"So we have set aside money in the airport's capital budget to invest and get those facilities started because we know that once they are open and operating, they are going to be utilised."
Looking ahead, Oakley is expecting that e-commerce volumes to South America to rise as the online platforms switch volumes away from the European Union as a result of the bloc's addition of a €3 duty on low-value parcels.
This would mirror the trend of last year when the US removed its own de minimis exemption.
"We are working with South American carriers to potentially set up connectivity into Rockford. I do think that is going to open up another unique opportunity for us," he says.
Also, the airport hopes to benefit from the rise of data centre and AI-related volumes.
"In May, we had two Anotov operations related to transformers for a data centre in Iowa," Oakley says. "Each transformer that came through was 98 tonnes."
"There are multiple data centre developments in Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, so for those large movements, Rockford is the perfect place to host those kinds of things."
