Amazon's latest Albuquerque project got off the ground last week as the online retailer launched daily operations out of its air cargo facility at the Albuquerque International Sunport.
Zoe Richmond, the field communications manager for Amazon in Arizona and New Mexico, said the cargo facility will allow the company to get products to its customers faster, whether here in Albuquerque or elsewhere.
The facility is staffed with about 70 people who are employed through Unifi, Richmond said, referring to the third-party contractor headquartered in Atlanta that provides aviation services through the U.S.
Currently, the facility will offload and load one cargo plane per day, Richmond said.
While Richmond couldn't give specifics on the amount of cargo expected to move through Albuquerque via the facility, the 737 that Amazon uses can carry 23 tons of freight.
The Albuquerque City Council approved a development agreement in the fall of 2021 to create the intermodal transportation hub. Amazon built the 30,000-square-foot cargo facility over the past year, according to a news release. It is located on five acres of land southwest of the terminal, next to FedEx and UPS, the release said.
The lease and development agreement between the Sunport and Amazon allows the online retailer to operate for 10 years. It carries an option to extend the lease in five-year renewals for up to 25 years, according to the release.
Amazon's presence in Albuquerque has grown since early 2020, when the company began work on ABQ1, the 24-hour fulfillment center on the city's Westside. It has also added a delivery station and sortation center to its campus on the Westside. Meanwhile, in February, Amazon announced it is building a fulfillment center in Los Lunas, which will employ more than 600 people upon completion sometime in 2023. Richmond said the Los Lunas project remains on track as of Monday.
