I'm just putting the Malanga piece forward as perspective. I don't vouch for the bonafides of the aerotropolis business case.
My guess is that the notion was given wings, as it were, by the fact that John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport is already Canada’s largest and busiest dedicated inter-modal cargo/courier facility. JCMHIA can accommodate fully loaded wide-body international aircraft, which is the main reason it wears the moniker it does. Since the mid-1980s, air cargo has been a core component of business at the airport, reflected in the presence and investment of partners such as
Cargojet, Purolator, UPS and DHL.
Whether that could be leveraged into a footing as one of
the world's top air cargo hubs on the back of the AEGD is another matter entirely.