The expansion is driven by market demands in e-commerce and Amazon’s growing stake in the marketplace with warehouses and distribution centers across Tampa Bay.
E-commerce giant Amazon will more than double its footprint at Lakeland Linder International Airport — representing a nine-figure investment.
Seattle-based Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), which opened its $100 million air cargo hub at the Lakeland airport in 2020, is expanding its operations on 63 acres of land in the northwest quadrant of the airport, west of the existing hub, according to a draft environmental assessment notice for Phase 2 of the facility filed with the Federal Aviation Administration.
A large project component entails adding 464,000 square feet to the 223,000-square-foot cargo processing building used for sorting and offices. It would add sorting, processing, logistical and technological features.
Amazon Air’s air cargo hub at the Lakeland airport is considered Amazon’s largest facility in the Southeast. The company planned a future expansion when the ground lease was approved in 2019. Amazon agreed to initially lease 47 acres of a 110-acre parcel in the northwest sector to support its operations.
“In all of our conversations from when they first contacted us in December 2017, we’ve had a great relationship,” Lakeland airport director Gene Conrad said. “Amazon puts us on the map whether it’s for [future] commercial air service or [maintenance, repair, and operations] — people are paying attention.”
The expansion is driven by market demands in e-commerce and Amazon’s growing stake in the marketplace with warehouses and distribution centers across Tampa Bay.
An Amazon spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.
The project would also create a need for an expanded aircraft apron to house more aircraft, a new fuel farm, additional parking and trailer storage — all of which could amount to hundreds of new jobs ranging in wages.
Construction is anticipated to begin in 2021 and be complete in 2022.
The project would also entail:
- Constructing a larger paved truck court to accommodate up to 370 additional truck bays and a paved vehicle parking lot to accommodate up to 1,120 additional parking spaces
- Constructing an aircraft parking apron to accommodate additional Boeing 767-300 and 737 cargo aircraft
- Constructing a new access road
Although the Phase I air cargo building meets existing market demand, Amazon determined that it lacks the space and cargo volume capacity to handle future expansions of air cargo demand in the market, according to the notice prepared by Lakeland and California-based engineering firm AECOM.
Phase II is expected to generate eight additional arrivals and eight additional departures per day at LAL during the facility’s first year of operation in 2022. By 2027, Amazon Air expects to have 12 more daily arrivals and departures operations.
Site plans also show a newly proposed fuel farm, which stores and provides fuel for users to accommodate the potential need for additional aviation fueling at LAL. It would be located separately from Amazon Air’s footprint, at the intersection of Aero Place and Taxiway H.
The current fuel farms can store up to 24,000 gallons of aviation gasoline and 72,000 gallons of Jet-A fuel and are currently leased to MRO operator Sheltair to maintain and operate. Current projections of cargo operations indicate the need for an additional fuel farm to provide a total of 850,000 gallons of Jet-A fuel capacity.
While the project involves developing 63 acres of land where existing structures do not exist, it would impact floodplains, disturbed by clearing, excavation, and construction activities.
There will be a public workshop on May 27 hosted by the airport and AECOM at the RP Funding Center for the project to move ahead. The purpose is to consider the project’s social, economic, and environmental effects and to get comments from the public and government agencies.