FLORIDA GOVERNOR’S VISIT IS HIGHLIGHT OF WORLD TRADE MONTH AT MIA
Governor Scott receives update, tour of airport’s growing cargo operations
Miami International Airport’s celebration of World Trade Month received a significant highlight on May 19 when Florida Governor Rick Scott visited the nation’s busiest international freight airport for a press conference to announce Florida’s April job growth numbers. The press conference was held at the headquarters of LATAM Cargo, MIA’s busiest cargo airline group and the largest in Latin America.
Before the press conference, Governor Scott received a briefing by Miami-Dade Aviation Department (MDAD) Director Emilio T. González and MIA staff regarding the airport’s performance in 2016 and key cargo business development initiatives, followed by a tour of LATAM Cargo’s hub facility.
After seeing an increase of less than one percent in cargo shipments in 2016 due to struggling South American economies, MIA’s freight tonnage has rebounded in 2017 with 4.4-percent total growth through April – led by a 6.2-percent increase domestically and 4.1-percent growth internationally.
We appreciate Governor Scott’s support of our cargo operations, which are leading the state and the nation in international freight shipments and perishable imports. Our local cargo industry supports hundreds of thousands of jobs across the state as well.
A major contributor to MIA’s cargo growth has been pharmaceutical (pharma) freight, which jumped 48 percent in value year over year to $4.4 billion in 2016. Since 2010, when the total value of pharma shipments at MIA was $1.8 billion, the airport’s pharma trade has grown by 140 percent. In 2015, MIA was designated the first pharma freight hub in the U.S. and the second in the world by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Center of Excellence for Independent Validators (CEIV) pharma certification program.
Just last month, LATAM Cargo became the first airline in America to receive the IATA CEIV certification, and Swissport Miami became the first cargo handling company at MIA – as well as the first Swissport station in North America – to earn the CEIV seal of excellence. IATA’s CEIV Program certifies that pharma products are transported in accordance with global best practices.
Governor Scott was also briefed regarding the Pharma.Aero association co-founded last year by MIA and Brussels Airport, MDAD’s effort to have MIA designated a Foreign Trade Zone, and MIA launching Florida’s first Ocean-to-Air Perishables Trans-Shipment Program in February.
To request materials in accessible format, Sign Language Interpreters, CART services and/or any accommodation to participate in any Miami-Dade Aviation Department (MDAD) public meetings and events please email the ADA Office at ADAcoordinator@miami-airport.com or call the office in 305-876-7747 five days in advance to initiate your request. Persons who are deaf or hard of hearing may also call 711 (Florida Relay Service).