Why Cargo Airlines Are Obsessed With Alaska

America's busiest cargo airport sits in a frozen, near-empty corner of Alaska. And yet as of 2026 it handles more freight than any airport in North America, and roughly 80 percent of everything crossing the Pacific by air stops here first. In this video, I investigate the economics of Anchorage: from fuel and payload tradeoffs to cargo transfer rights and the U.S.-China trade boom, and why the world's largest freighters still choose to land in one of the emptiest places in North America. 00:00 - Introduction 01:46 - Alaska’s Forgotten Past 03:28 - How the Cold War Transformed Anchorage 05:45 - The Collapse of Anchorage’s Passenger Hub 06:41 - Anchorage’s Geographic Advantage 08:13 - Why Cargo Airlines Stop in Alaska 09:56 - Anchorage’s Unique Regulatory Advantage 12:11 - The E-Commerce Boom and Anchorage’s Future