Pittsburgh International Airport to add largest cargo facility in airport’s history

Developer to build 140,000 square-foot industrial building on the airfield to meet growing cargo demand.

In response to growing cargo demand, Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) is adding the largest cargo facility in the airport’s history, officials said this week.

Developer Aeroterm will lease nearly nine acres of land from the Allegheny County Airport Authority to build the 140,000 square foot industrial building, set to open in summer 2023. The facility will be built at no cost to the airport authority, officials said.

“This project is a much-needed addition to our cargo operations, as we continue to partner with the industry to create new solutions to serve their customers in a trying supply chain environment,” Bryan Dietz, PIT’s senior vice president, air service & commercial development, said in a press statement. “We’re looking forward to this partnership with Aeroterm, which will further our mission as an economic driver for Western Pennsylvania while being able to expand the ease and efficiency our airport is becoming known for in the air cargo industry.”

Airport officials said the new building will not affect plans to build Cargo 4, a 77,000-square-foot cargo-processing facility and adjacent parking lot that has received nearly $20 million in federal and state grants, and is expected to be up and running by 2024. Construction on Cargo 4 is slated to begin later this year.

The construction boom in Pittsburgh is being driven by an even larger cargo boom. Cargo volume was up nearly 30% in 2021, totaling nearly 250 million pounds, making it the busiest cargo year at the airport since 2004, when PIT was still a hub for US Airways, officials said.