'Epicenter of e-commerce': CVG's booming cargo business supports discount airlines

Just shy of 20 years ago, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport offered few airlines and high prices.As flyers get ready for the busy holiday season, they may not realize the 7,700-acre facility known as CVG is the fastest-growing cargo airport in the world. By 2026, CVG is aiming to be the “epicenter of e-commerce” and the linchpin of a regional “aviation ecosystem.”“We’re working on it right now,” said Candace McGraw, CVG's chief executive since 2011. “We’re thinking about it.”From 1947 start, Delta becomes dominantIn the 1940s, Cincinnati leaders wanted Lunken Airport in the East End to be the epicenter for Greater Cincinnati air travel. In the 1950s, they wanted the Blue Ash Airport to fill that role.Northern Kentucky leaders made a counter proposal for a Boone County site and won Congressional support and dollars.The first airfield opened at what became CVG in 1944 and the first terminal in 1946. The first commercial flight, from American Airlines, departed in 1947. D...