Amazon has announced its plan of building an air cargo hub at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG).

This nearly $1.5 billion new investment from the American online retailer giant will employ up to 2,700 new full- and part-time staff, with 600 full-time jobs coming at first. The jobs included are pilots, ground support personnel and maintenance. This is considered as the largest jobs expansion at CVG since Delta opened its hub in the 1990s. 

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“We couldn’t be more excited to add 2,000-plus Amazon employees to join the more than 10,000 who work with us today across our robust operations in Kentucky,” Dave Clark, Amazon senior vice president of worldwide operations, said in a statement.

The new air hub of Amazon will support its growing fleet of Prime Air cargo planes by loading, unloading and sorting packages. The e-commerce giant has already 11 warehouses in Kentucky, where the inventory is stored, packed and shipped to customers ordering goods over the internet.

The hub construction will commence this year and take five to seven years to complete. After the construction on the 920-acre site, it will now support the 16 planes transporting Amazon inventory around the country. CVG’s board members have approved a 50-year lease of the property around the airport to Amazon.

The Kentucky Economic Development Authority (KEDA) has approved preliminary tax-incentive package worth up to $40 million for Amazon in the next 10 years. If Amazon will be able to meet annual job and wage targets such as paying an average hourly wage of $26, the company will save $4 million each year on its tax bill. 

The new air hub proves that Amazon has big ambition to expand its logistics and shipping department, keeping up with the demand of the increasing number of packages it has to deliver. In addition, Amazon wants to compete with UPS and FedEx as a shipping company.

This is not the first time that Amazon attempt to operate an air hub or even moving air cargo in this region. In 2016, Amazon partnered with Air Transport Services Group Inc., which has been operating out of the Wilmington Air Park since mid-2015. Amazon also purchased shares in ATSG.