Want to see a shooting star every two minutes? Come out to Louisville International Airport (SDF) around midnight. When you peer into the night sky, its deep blackness is perforated by twinkling points of light stretching to the horizon.

Then you’ll notice something — the lights are moving, rapidly coming right at you. What is this astrological phenomenon? A close encounter? Some kind of cometpallooza? Nope, it’s the nightly arrival of the UPS air fleet at Worldport.

About a hundred times each night, those shooting stars transform from a distant glimmer to 65 tons of global commerce touching down at SDF, a million shipments ready for sorting, processing and otherwise distributing to 200 countries and territories around the world.

The 2 million metric tonnes of cargo that UPS flew into SDF in 2009 have made the airport a star in its own right – a star on the rise.

Louisville International now ranks as the world’s seventh busiest cargo airport, jumping up two spots in the recently released annual ranking by the Airports Council International.

Louisville is a great case study about the benefits of global commerce. Among other benefits, engagement in the world economy creates jobs, improves education and enhances healthcare.

In Kentucky, UPS air express operations have created nearly 30,000 jobs. Over 10,000 residents of the Bluegrass have participated in our Metropolitan College program, which pays full college tuition for students who work in overnight operations at Worldport. And Louisville’s booming medical sector is now reaping the further benefits of our growing healthcare logistics services.

It’s all enough to put stars in your eyes!