Companies like FedEx use the cargo facilities at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. Last year, the airport managed a total of 576 million pounds of cargo.

     The cargo business at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) has taken off in recent years.

     It’s the fastest growing part of BWI – an airport that for years primarily concentrated on growing its passenger traffic ahead of promoting its cargo facilities.

     “It’s been a strong couple of years,” said Robert Shaffer, director of cargo for the Maryland Aviation Administration. “Last year came in as a record year exceeding 2004, which was also a record year for us.”

     BWI handled 576 million pounds of total cargo in 2005, up 3.7 percent from 2004 when the airport managed 555 million pounds. That was a 6.9 percent increase from 2003 when the airport saw 519 million pounds of total cargo, according to airport officials.

     Everything from seafood and flowers to electrical machinery and aircraft components pass through BWI’s cargo facilities.

     The average person traveling through BWI’s terminals are not aware that the success of cargo translates into success for BWI and for the entire state, said Jonathan Dean, a spokesman for BWI. In fact, cargo is almost totally invisible to BWI passengers, he added.

     In its July issue, trade publication Air Cargo World ranked BWI second overall in North America airports handling less than 500,000 tons per year.

     It seems the numbers point to a correlation between the growth in the airport’s cargo business and the arrival of Shaffer at BWI. But he is quick to dismiss that he has played a monumental role in the uptick.

     Shaffer, who has been in his current post for nearly three years, has primarily focused his efforts on marketing BWI to cargo carriers and, in turn, cargo volume has increased.

     “It all comes down to making BWI visible and increasing its marketing efforts,” said Shaffer.

     “I don’t think it has anything to do with me,” he added. “What really affects growth at the airport is the increase in business at the airport and we have had a strong economy here in Maryland.”

     Shaffer said he has been aggressive in his efforts to attract charter companies that handle cargo to and from the airport.

     “The state and BWI make it attractive for charters,” he said. “I have tried to be very, very verbal to charter companies to consider BWI because of its location and the proximity to [Interstate] 95.”

     Shaffer has spent a lot of time calling charter companies, as well as attending trade shows to help make BWI’s charter business more well known.

     “You have to tell people to use BWI … because it is very competitive here,” he said. “People will look at Philadelphia, Dulles, Newark and New York’s JFK as well. They are all competitors of ours.”

     In addition, the cargo business has been aided by the increase in the airport’s flight volume in recent years.

     The number of passenger flights the airport offers plays a major part in cargo growth, Shaffer said.

     “As BWI offers more flights to more cities, it becomes more and more attractive for cargo companies to use the airport,” he said.

     Southwest Airlines, in particular, has played a major role in increasing the airport’s cargo business, said Barry Noe, owner of Associated Global Systems and co-chair of the BWI Development Council’s cargo committee.

     “They have made a difference because they have opened up so many cities to us that were not being served by the airport already,” he said.

     Southwest offers direct flights out of BWI to 62 cities all over the country.

     “They are very dependable, which is a plus for cargo companies,” Noe said.

     The airline announced plans earlier this summer to add more flights from Baltimore to Denver and Oakland, bringing Southwest’s total daily departures to 167. The airline will also begin offering four flights a day to Detroit in September.

     While officials are optimistic about the airport’s increase in its cargo sector, more emphasis, they say, needs to be placed on increasing its international cargo business.

     About 94 percent of all cargo that moves out of BWI is domestic, Shaffer said.

     “We don’t do a lot of international right now, but it could be a really big market for us,” he said.

     Shaffer hopes BWI’s second annual Cargo Expo, scheduled for September, will also help increase business.

     The Cargo Expo gives the cargo community an opportunity to showcase their operations and their significance to Maryland, Dean said. The event, which is held at the airport’s cargo facility, introduces the public and industry to the cargo operations at BWI, as well as helps to increase business opportunities for the airport.

     Expo exhibitors include air cargo airlines, air charter services, ground transportation services, warehousing services, government agencies and training and educational services.

     Last year was the first time the airport had hosted the event since 1990, Shaffer said.

     “Cargo was not thought about as much in the past several years as it had been in the 1980s,” he said. “The emphasis was only on passenger growth.”

     More than 750 people attended the event last year and Shaffer hopes to more than double that number this year. ::

            Kara McAndrew is a freelance writer in Silver Spring, Md.