© 2024 WOSU Public Media
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Wilmington's Air Park Positions Itself For Future Growth

Wilmington Air Park, with $3 million in state money, is ready to start making navigation and infrastructure improvements.
Provided
Wilmington Air Park, with $3 million in state money, is ready to start making navigation and infrastructure improvements.

Wilmington Air Park, with 12 companies and 1,200 employees, is ready to embark on $3 million worth of  improvements in the first quarter of 2018 as it looks to retain its customers, help them expand and position itself for other opportunities.

The new investments involve navigational aid systems, runway lighting and pavement repair to runways, taxiways and ramps. The money comes from a state grant.

"Our ability to help our current tenants (like ATSG and its subsidiary Airborne) and current customers provide the highest level of service is a big part of what's driving these investments," says Clinton County Port Authority Executive Director Dan Evers.

Wilmington Air Park handles 767, 737, 747 and other large cargo, and some passenger planes utilizing Airborne's (ATSG) maintenance and repair facilities.
Credit Provided
Wilmington Air Park handles 767, 737, 747 and other large cargo, and some passenger planes utilizing Airborne's (ATSG) maintenance and repair facilities.

Evers says the Air Park can accommodate any aircraft and has one of the largest runways in the world at 10,000 linear feet. 

He says in 2016 and the first quarter of 2017 the Wilmington Air Park had the highest volume of freight cargo in Ohio. It was 32nd in the nation.

"Our ability to service that volume and to service e-commerce, air cargo, freight forwarders, it's not hypothetical or theoretical, it's today."

It was 2009 when DHL closed its domestic operations in Wilmington, affecting 10,000 jobs.

Copyright 2021 91.7 WVXU. To see more, visit 91.7 WVXU.

With more than 30 years of journalism experience in the Greater Cincinnati market, Ann Thompson brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to her reporting. She has reported for WKRC, WCKY, WHIO-TV, Metro Networks and CBS/ABC Radio. Her work has been recognized by the Associated Press and the Society of Professional Journalists. In 2019 and 2011 A-P named her “Best Reporter” for large market radio in Ohio. She has won awards from the Association of Women in Communications and the Alliance for Women in Media. Ann reports regularly on science and technology in Focus on Technology.