By Bill Raack, St. Louis Public Radio
ST. LOUIS – A delegation of Chinese airline representatives and federal aviation officials are heading back home today, after spending a week in the St. Louis area discussing a possible air cargo hub.
Regional leaders are trying to convince them to establish a center for air cargo flights at Lambert Airport.
The Chinese delegation toured Lambert and met with area companies that might export goods to China. They also took in a Blues hockey game.
Regional Chamber and Growth Association CEO Dick Fleming said the group wanted to see the infrastructure for themselves as well as learn how the planes would be filled with St. Louis and Midwestern products heading back to China.
"And then finally, we arranged for them to talk with some major shippers and freight forwarders who are really the heart of the market and to hear directly from them the opportunity that they see in the cargo hub here in St. Louis," Fleming said.
Fleming said that the four-and-a-half days of meetings and tours seemed to have made a good impression on the Chinese delegation.
"I was heartened by the delegation chairman and the vice-chairman commenting at the end of the meetings yesterday," Fleming said, "[They] said that based on what they have seen, they fully expected the big idea to become a reality."
Fleming also said that the next step is for one of the Chinese airlines to step forward and negotiate a deal with Lambert officials. Senator Kit Bond has said flights between China and St. Louis will begin in 2011.
There's no timetable for making the cargo hub happen, Fleming said, but if negotiations go well he's hoping flights could be in the air sometime next year.