Lakeland Linder Airport is now home to Amazon’s largest air cargo hub in the Southeast. It’s one of several projects the online retailer is building in the region.
Fire trucks spraying water cannons welcomed the first Amazon flight to Lakeland’s airport Thursday. The company broke ground on the facility last July.
"We are thrilled to welcome Amazon Air to Lakeland and look forward to the facility creating hundreds of new jobs in the months ahead,” Lakeland mayor Bill Mutz said in a statement released by Amazon.
Amazon customers have grown to rely to one or two-day delivery, so it’s creating an air freight distribution network to meet that need. The company recently announced it was leasing a dozen Boeing 767s that will serve Lakeland and its other air cargo hubs.
Meanwhile, Amazon is building a distribution center in Auburndale. It recently closed a deal to build another in Temple Terrace and lease a warehouse in Seffner.
