The Gary / Chicago International Airport is accelerating the construction schedule of their cargo services expansion.

The announcement coincided with the airport receiving a previously allocated $9.82 million grant by the State of Indiana. The timing of the grant allows the airport to construct its full allocation of eight wide-bodied aircraft parking positions simultaneously. The parking is housed on about 25 acres of concrete ramp.

Construction for the Phase 1 cargo expansion is scheduled to be completed by end of 2025. The ability to construct all the intended aircraft parking positions simultaneously provides the airport with roughly $8.5 million in overall cost savings for their Phase 1 project.

“We are very pleased to be able to construct all of our planned plane parking in one fell swoop versus a more sequential process over a period of years, given how quickly our cargo sector continues to grow,” said Dan Vicari, GCIA executive director, in a press release.

Vicari expressed gratitude to Congressman Frank Mrvan and the State of Indiana for their assistance in securing the funding for the Phase 1 cargo expansion.

 2025 has seen evolution in the airport’s growing cargo service offerings. The year has also seen increased land holdings by the airport, following its $925,000 property acquisition of 4.7 acres of land that was announced in April 2025.

In 2020, GCIA began cargo service operations via UPS, who signed a long-term lease agreement. Cargo service operations have quickly scaled. In 2022, GCIA received formal Federal Aviation Administration approvals for its Master Plan, a long-term planning document that will guide the next several decades of airport aviation and growth.

 2024 saw multiple milestones reached, including breaking ground on a new $12 million, 47,000 square foot aviation hangar as well as breaking ground on the $67 million cargo services infrastructure investment. This effort coincided with the airport agreeing to a long-term extension with UPS.