The concept of growing Worcester Regional’s cargo operations has been floated for more than 25 years.
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Massport is looking to create cargo or logistics operations at Worcester Regional Airport and to grow the airport’s passenger count, part of a wider effort to expand the usefulness of the airport it took control of in 2010.
In order to become self-sustaining, Worcester Regional needs to continue to increase its passenger count and capture new business opportunities, according to a draft version of the Massport 2025 Strategic Plan released Thursday.
Worcester Regional served 230,000 passengers in 2024, marking the highest volume of passengers in 34 years, according to the strategic report, up from 193,000 in 2023. Worcester’s 549% passenger growth since 2009 is the second-highest growth rate among all New England airports, after Tweed New Haven Airport.
Massport aspires to have more than 500,000 passengers using the Worcester airport annually by 2035, according to the report.
However, a number of obstacles to further growth are present, including the airport’s relative proximity to Boston Logan International Airport and regional airports like Bradley International Airport in Connecticut, Manchester-Boston Regional Airport in New Hampshire, and Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport, all of which have more flight options and higher passenger counts.
Both T.F. Green and Bradley benefit from state incentive programs that lower the barrier of entry for airlines. The report states Massport is examining incentives, including minimum revenue guarantees, to retain flights.
The Worcester airport offers flights to Philadelphia by American Airlines, flights to New York’s LaGuardia Airport by Delta Air Lines, and flights to Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, and winter-spring seasonal flights to Fort Myers by JetBlue, according to the airport’s website.
Speaking at a Blackstone Valley Chamber of Commerce event earlier in January, Massport CEO Rich Davey said four out of the five passenger flights leaving Worcester operate at a loss, according to Spectrum News 1.
Davey said Worcester will continue to focus on airlines like Delta and JetBlue, rather than ultra-low-budget brands like Spirit Airlines and Frontier Airlines, which are struggling with current market conditions.
Cargo operations at the airport involve niche uses like specialty pharmaceuticals and urgent medical logistics, according to the report, although cargo-specific flights seem to be rare; Worcester Regional did not have any all-cargo flights in 2024, according to the Federal Aviation Administration’s 2024 list of all-cargo landed weight at airports in the country.
Cargo contained in the belly of passenger flights is not included among that data.
This compares to other regional airports like Manchester-Boston, which saw 646.82 million pounds of landed cargo in 2024, and T.F Green, which saw 110.66 million pounds, according to FAA.
The concept of growing Worcester Regional’s cargo operations has been floated for more than 25 years, with a 1999 Worcester Regional Research Bureau report studying what would need to be done in order to make that happen.
The report cited the airport’s limited highway access, and noted that major cargo operators like FedEx and UPS already have well-established infrastructure for accepting cargo at Logan and then using trucks to move it to distribution sites in Central Massachusetts, something that has only increased in the years since.
That report came before Massport took over ownership of the airport from the City of Worcester in 2010. Since then, Massport has invested $100 million in the airport, including the construction of a CAT III landing system, designed to make landings possible even with low visibility.
Despite the investments, obstacles for both increasing passenger and cargo operations at Worcester Regional remain, including its inability to support large, wide-bodied aircraft like the Boeing 767 and Boeing 777, according to the report.
Public comment on Massport’s 2025 strategic plan closes on March 6, with a virtual presentation on the plan scheduled for Feb. 5.
Eric Casey is the managing editor at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the real estate and banking & finance industries.
