ONTARIO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT WINS TENTATIVE AWARD FOR CHINA FLIGHTS
(Los Angeles, California – November 22, 2000) United Parcel Service (UPS) and the U.S. Department of Transportation have informed Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) officials that the airline has been granted a tentative award for direct flights to China from Ontario International Airport (ONT). The airline expects to begin four weekly flights April 2001, using Boeing 747 cargo aircraft. This tentative decision would award ONT its first-time-ever direct flights to China.
UPS’s application this year to the federal government for China air rights received strong support from numerous businesses, labor unions and elected officials.
LAWA officials strongly supported the application and wrote to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Rodney Slater earlier this year endorsing UPS application for flights out of Ontario.
Dr. Warren Valdry, a member of the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners, said, "We are delighted with the news and will do everything possible to ensure UPS is successful with this new China route originating out of Ontario International Airport."
Philip Depoian, LAWA deputy executive director, said, "This would be the first time ONT serves the People’s Republic of China, which is the Pacific Rim’s largest and fastest growing market."
Noting that the Department of Transportation’s tentative decision on UPS follows an announcement two weeks ago that AeroMexico would begin ONT flights to/from Guadalajara and Mexico City three times a week on December 15, Depoian said, "This is another big step in Los Angeles World Airports’ efforts to take a regional approach in meeting Southern California’s ever-increasing demand for air service by distributing it throughout the region."
City of Ontario Mayor Gary Ovitt said, "Ontario and the entire Inland Empire continue to experience growth in our business, residential, and tourism areas. UPS is one of our area’s major employers and the federal government’s tentative decision could mean more jobs for our region. ONT is an ideal airport to tap into the steadily growing Southern California market for air freight services to China."
The China route at ONT has tremendous potential. According to Depoian, at Los Angeles International Airport (ONT’s sister airport under LAWA), China ranked second to Japan in trade between Asia and Southern California with 93,701 tons of airfreight in 1999, valued at $3.7 billion. This represented 25.2 percent of all U.S. exports and imports to China.
On a national level, China is the United States’ second largest trading partner and is also the second largest U.S.-Asia all-cargo market. For calendar year 1998, the U.S. Department of Commerce reported that the China cargo market generated approximately 300,000 tons of air cargo valued at nearly $12 billion. During the period 1994-1998, the China air cargo market grew at an average rate of 12.4% annually by weight and 21 percent annually by value.
Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, UPS is the world’s largest express carrier and package delivery company, serving more than 200 countries and territories around the world. It employs 3,500 people at its international West Coast distribution operation at ONT.
