Passengers first, cargo second: international transportation Alaska.

• Author: Swann, Kirsten
• Position: TRANSPORTATION

Home to the Air Crossroads of the World and more coastline than all the other states combined, Alaska plays an important role in the world of international transportation.

By sea, ports in Anchorage and Valdez serve as conduits to major Pacific Rim trade routes, ferrying everything from passengers to everyday consumer items to crude oil. By air, Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (TSAIA) and Fairbanks International Airport serve tens of thousands of commercial flights annually--both passenger and cargo planes from Asia, Europe, and beyond. Those hubs generate hundreds of millions of dollars in combined economic impact every year, according to the State of Alaska.

Still, some parts of the state's international transportation industry are faring better than others.

The FedEx hub located at TSAIA stands out against a generally flat cargo shipping scene, continuing to build business after the international company projected a record-setting holiday season in December 2014.

A first-quarter earnings report released in September heralded a surge in profits "primarily due to higher volumes and increased yields at all three transportation segments." FedEx spokesman Jim McCluskey says the Anchorage hub played an important role in that success.

"We provide the same solid portfolio of services in Alaska that we provide across our network: what you can get here in Memphis or in Paris or in any other major city or town across the globe," McCluskey says. "You have to understand, too, that whole hub location [in Anchorage], that's a significant presence."

The Anchorage FedEx hub, which occupies a five hundred thousand square-foot complex within TSAIA, is open around the clock every day of the year and serves more than five hundred flights per month, according to the corporation. The location holds a major advantage for international transport: Anchorage is located just a nine-and-a-half hour flight away from 90 percent of the industrialized world, with connections to distribution centers in London, Paris, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and other Asian cities.

Time zone differences mean cargo from Anchorage can reach key locations around the globe within twenty-four hours, according to FedEx. The company says its shipping hub there, which connects to more than 220 countries spread over six continents, has experienced a 30 percent growth rate over the last decade, due in part to its important role in the global web of cargo transportation.

"Bottom...