Airglades International Airport Opens New U.S. Customs and Border Protection Facility

Airglades International Airport LLC broke ground on a new U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility that will replace the airport’s current general aviation terminal. The $2.1 million, 4,000-square-foot facility is made possible through partnership and coordination with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Hendry County.

Strategically located in a logistics corridor less than 90 miles west of Miami, the development of this facility will designate AIA as an official port of entry to the U.S. and create a major international multimodal logistics complex with far-reaching economic impact.

With the inspection facility and an overall airport expansion, AIA will be able to accept international cargo planes importing perishable goods, offering shorter flight times and reduced travel distances and road congestion throughout the transportation logistics chain. The streamlined chain will consolidate customs locations for timely import inspection and reduce delays of domestic shipments of refrigerated cargo, leading to less spoilage and increased shelf life for perishables such as seafood, produce and flowers to be sold throughout the U.S.

South Florida is an established global logistics hub through which more than 83% of all commodities imported by air to the U.S. from the Americas is received and sends more than 79% of all exported commodities from the U.S. to the Americas.

The expansion of the airport is expected to create more than 10,000 jobs during the construction phase and the establishment of the Airglades International Airport will create 1,700 long-term jobs for Hendry County and surrounding communities.

Airglades International Airport LLC manages the current Airglades General Aviation Airport and supported Hendry County in completing the Federal Aviation Administration’s Airport Investment Partnership Program application, which was approved in late 2019. AIA was designed as a cargo reliever airport to improve efficiency and increase innovation in the trade and logistics industry of South Florida. Upon completion of the new airport facility, AIA will be the first airport in the U.S. to be converted from public to private ownership under the FAA’s Airport