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Azerbaijan cargo airline debuts at Rickenbacker airport

Ohio freight hub also receives hundreds of special cargo-only passenger flights

A Silkway West Airlines freighter being unloaded at Rickenbacker Airport. (Photo: Bryan Schreiber, Columbus Regional Airport Authority)

Azerbaijan-based Silk Way West Airlines is the latest carrier to begin flying to Rickenbacker International Airport in Columbus, Ohio, a cargo-focused airport that recently marked the arrival of its 500th passenger aircraft with only cargo onboard.

The first Silk Way B747 freighter touched down at Rickenbacker (LCK) this week under a long-term lease with Trinity Logistics USA, the Columbus Regional Airport Authority said. 

New York-based Trinity operates one of the largest private air networks into LCK. Since 2017, it has dispatched more than 500 all-cargo leased aircraft to the Midwest airport with fashion and garment products from main gateways in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, said Trinity President David Pereira.

Rickenbacker is Silk Way’s second regularly scheduled destination in the U.S. It also operates all-cargo aircraft to Chicago O’Hare International Airport three times per week. Silk Way was founded in 2012 and operates about 250 regular and charter flights around the world every month with a fleet of 12 Boeing 747-8 and 747-400 freighters, according to its website.


Meanwhile, LCK recently welcomed its 500th auxiliary freighter operated by a passenger airline, which is a notable milestone considering it is not a passenger hub airport. 

Airlines deployed more than 2,500 aircraft in cargo-only mode to make up for some of the lost capacity from shuttered passenger operations during COVID and capitalize on high demand from shippers. The planes fly with cargo in the belly hold, but some airlines have even resorted to cabin loading with cargo in seats or seats removed. Many airports have handled these types of flights, but almost all of them tend to go to passenger airports, not alternative cargo gateways.

Rickenbacker is the only dedicated cargo airport known to have received any cargo-only passenger flights.

The airport sees regular auxiliary freighters from Emirates, Etihad Airways, Korean Airlines, Philippine Airlines and Qatar Airways.


Rickenbacker has become increasingly popular for many logistics companies and all-cargo carriers because cargo is unloaded, cleared by Customs and on its way to customers in a fraction of the time that it takes at major hub airports. Flights with cargo in the cabin can take longer to unload.

The airport authority estimates that more than 1 million boxes of consumer goods and manufacturing components have arrived at Rickenbacker aboard the 500 passenger-freighters.  

LCK handled 4% more international arrivals last year, although the cargo-only aircraft can’t carry as large a payload as the pure freighters. But airport officials have said they anticipate growth in cargo volumes this year.

Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch.

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Eric Kulisch

Eric is the Supply Chain and Air Cargo Editor at FreightWaves. An award-winning business journalist with extensive experience covering the logistics sector, Eric spent nearly two years as the Washington, D.C., correspondent for Automotive News, where he focused on regulatory and policy issues surrounding autonomous vehicles, mobility, fuel economy and safety. He has won two regional Gold Medals and a Silver Medal from the American Society of Business Publication Editors for government and trade coverage, and news analysis. He was voted best for feature writing and commentary in the Trade/Newsletter category by the D.C. Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He won Environmental Journalist of the Year from the Seahorse Freight Association in 2014 and was the group's 2013 Supply Chain Journalist of the Year. In December 2022, he was voted runner up for Air Cargo Journalist by the Seahorse Freight Association. As associate editor at American Shipper Magazine for more than a decade, he wrote about trade, freight transportation and supply chains. Eric is based in Portland, Oregon. He can be reached for comments and tips at [email protected]