HEBRON, Ky. — Gov. Andy Beshear was in northern Kentucky for several economic announcements on Tuesday. The biggest was a $40 million dollar investment at the Cincinnati Northern Kentucky International Airport. 

What You Need To Know

  • A $40 million investment in the Cincinnati Northern Kentucky International Airport will expand its capacity for shipping

  • The hub will serve as a maintenance facility for cargo planes from Amazon and DHL

  • It is part of a broader strategy for CVG to be a catalyst for economic transformation in the region

A new massive aircraft hangar fits into the airport’s goal of facilitating economic growth in the region. The Florida-based company Feam already built a 100,000 square foot hangar at CVG a few years ago. It’s able to fit one wide-body aircraft and employs 250 people to work on the planes that come in and out.

Now the company is building another. The new facility will be twice as big, able to fit three wide-body aircraft, and create at least another 250 jobs.

“This airport is so critical to the growth we’re seeing in the commonwealth of Kentucky,” Beshear said. “This is gonna change a lot of lives. And we’re gonna see a lot more to come.”

This $40 million project will serve as a maintenance facility for cargo planes from Amazon and DHL, both of which have hubs at CVG, among other carriers.

Mechanics at the hangar will also work on passenger planes.

“It allows all of the operators that are here operating on behalf of Amazon and DHL to have the support they need right here where the airplanes are operating,” said Fred Murphy, president and CEO of Feam.

CVG CEO Candace McGraw said the growth of cargo at CVG has been key to the airport’s overall growth, and fits into a mission launched there in 2020 to be an economic catalyst to transform the region. She said building more maintenance facilities to keep those planes in the air is something people can expect to keep seeing. “So this is just allowing those aircraft to keep coming in and growing. And continuing economic development here at CVG,” McGraw said.

The groundbreaking was one of several economic announcements Beshear made in northern Kentucky on Tuesday.

Despite ongoing inflation, he said the announcements, like the planes flying above the airport, will keep coming.

“We are not seeing anything slow down whatsoever. Every major project that we’ve announced is under construction. And we haven’t seen any of them, thus far, delayed,” he said.

The hangar is scheduled to be complete by late 2023. Feam is also working on a training program to get mechanics ready to work at the facility. The new jobs are expected to pay more than $40 an hour. 

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