(May 26, 2011) Executives from China Cargo are taking off from Lambert-St. Louis International Airport this evening, without a signed deal in hand for cargo flights but with a stronger sense of how such flights might work.
The three-day visit of a technical delegation from the airline ended Thursday with Lambert officials saying it went well. The team from China Cargo - which has been designated by the Chinese government to negotiate on freight flights between Lambert and Shanghai - met with ground handlers, maintenance, customs and other airlines to see how a St. Louis-based cargo operation might work.
They also met with representatives from two airlines that are studying routes between Latin America and a St. Louis cargo hub, said Lambert director Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge.
"Those meetings were fabulous," she said. "They liked the whole network opportunity here."
No deals were signed, and they weren't planned to be on this visit. But the Chinese officials made clear that they're watching the future of the Aerotropolis tax credits, the $360 million incentive package designed to boost investment around a cargo hub. It died at the end of the legislative session earlier this month, but Lambert backers are pushing for a special session to pass it.
"It's very, very important," Hamm-Niebruegge said. "(The Chinese) need something like Aerotropolis to make this work in the long-term."(St. Louis Post-Dispatch) |
