Nov. 18—Amazon is the latest company to fly cargo to and from Manchester-Boston Regional Airport after leasing space in a new cargo building right off the runway.

The e-commerce giant — under the name Amazon Air — joins FedEx and UPS as major air cargo presences at the airport.

Amazon's first Boeing 767-300 branded as "Prime Air" landed just after 12:30 a.m. Thursday from a hub at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. The plane arrived empty but left with a small amount of cargo as part of a test flight.

The plane, which will land daily around the same time, needs to be unloaded and loaded in two hours and 19 minutes, according to Traci Dugan, vice president of flight operations and cargo logistics for Trego-Dugan Aviation, a company hired for ground handling.

Amazon has two widebody aircraft parking spaces to load cargo in and out of the 55,000-square-foot leased building, according to Airport Director Ted Kitchens. Another 10,000 square feet remains vacant and can be leased to another operator. A third aircraft parking position is open, and another could be added.

"The planes pull right up to the building," he said. The Amazon planes are operated by Atlas Air.

The Manchester airport announced in February 2021 it had signed a ground lease with Maryland-based Aeroterm to build the cargo facility, which will nearly double the airport's cargo capacity. Amazon Air is the first tenant.

The building took the place of two "decrepit" hangars and an abandoned long-term parking lot, Kitchens said.

"It was costing us money," he said. "It is now making us money."

The building was completed in about 14 months, even with supply chain and construction delays, Kitchens said. The finishing touches are still being put on the building.

A $7.9 million federal grant and other funds helped build the new concrete apron around the building.

The only other airport at which Amazon Air operates in New England is Bradley International in Connecticut. Amazon Air launched in 2016 and operates in 35 airports across the U.S., "making two-day shipping possible almost anywhere in the country," according to its website.

Other tenants have shown interest, but nothing has materialized, Kitchens said.

The building shows growth at the Manchester airport with older such distribution centers being built 20 or 30 years ago.

Dugan, along with her husband, company president Vincent Dugan, offered a tour of the space Thursday afternoon. The company has been in business for 50 years and increased its number of employees from 800 to 2,300 during the pandemic, she said.

Trego-Dugan operates at six other airports for Amazon in a partnership that started 18 months ago.

Vincent Dugan said the company invested $2 million in equipment.

The workers unload uniform loading devices — or "cans" for short — designed to fit perfectly within the fuselage of the 767. The planes hold 39 of them. The cargo needs to be loaded precisely to distribute the weight evenly, Traci Dugan said.

The company hired 125 people and expects to hire 25% to 45% more in the first quarter. About 60% are from Manchester.

The building can be expanded by about 36,000 square feet for a total of 100,000 in the future.

In 2020, the airport brought in a record number of cargo shipments totaling about 211.8 million pounds. The number dipped to about 206.9 million pounds in 2021.

As of September, the airport so far this year has processed about 143 million pounds, according to its website.

Amazon said the building will allow the company to deliver packages quickly and efficiently across New England.

"I think it is the location," Kitchens said. "If you look at our location in New England, we provide easy access to Boston and also easy access up to northern New England and the Seacoast."

jphelps@unionleader.com