A company that operates cargo facilities at Hancock Airport has offered to buy the long-vacant former US Airways reservations center at the airport for $800,000.

Mohawk Global Logistics Holdings LLC has proposed turning the building, 123 Cargo Road, Salina, into a trade and logistics center, transacting commerce everywhere in the world from the Syracuse airport, city officials said.

Mayor Matt Driscoll said Tuesday the company expects to add about 40 people to its staff over the next two years. He said he will ask the Common Council to approve the sale.

"They've been here," he said. "They want to grow here."

The city owns and operates the airport, even though it is outside the city limits.

Constructed in 1989, the 28,588-square-foot building served as a 24-hour reservations center for US Airways, one of four operated by the airline around the country. It employed 400 people until US Airways, which was struggling financially and about to go into bankruptcy, closed the center in November 2001.

The building has sat vacant ever since. The city acquired it in August 2002 as part of a bankruptcy settlement with the airline. US Airways turned the building over to the city in payment for the airline's $900,000 debt to the city for landing and terminal fees.

The city has been trying to sell the building since March 2003. City officials said they have shown the building to potential buyers more than 50 times.