Concepts of Air Transport

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Air cargo is any property carried or to be carried in an aircraft. Air cargo comprises air freight, air express and airmail

Different cargo can be transported by passenger, cargo or combi aircraft:

Passenger aircraft use the spare volume in the airplane’s baggage hold (the “belly”) that is not being used for passenger luggage—a common practice used by passenger airlines, who additionally transport cargo on scheduled passenger flights. Cargo can also be transported in the passenger cabin as hand-carry by an “on-board courier”. This practice can often be used to cross-subsidise loss-making passenger routes that would otherwise be uneconomical to operate.
Cargo aircraft are dedicated for the job—they carry freight on the main deck and in the belly by means of nose-loading or side loading.
Combi aircraft carry cargo on part of the main deck, before or after a passengers’ section, with side loading, and in the belly.
Despite widespread hopes for a vibrant industry, for decades the air freight did not grow as expected and remained a very small part of total air traffic. For much of the first five post-war decades most carriers saw it as a secondary activity, although there had always been specialized cargo airlines. Some passenger airlines have found the practice of carrying “belly cargo” a highly lucrative enterprise (in fact, it is estimated that 50% of all air freight is moved in this way), to the point where it has lessened the demand for dedicated large cargo aircraft.

Cargo emerged as a solid pillar of the industry in 1990s. The catalysts for the renewed growth in the sector were the express parcel carriers, typified by FedEx, DHL, TNT and UPS, and changes in practices in the manufacturing sector. In 1992, FedEx sent software on computer disks to thousands of customers, allowing them to track shipments from their own workstations.

The rise of internet during in the years that followed contributed to increase the reliability and accessibility to the air cargo industry. Most airlines now offer to their customers real-time flight status and the booking and tracking options. In addition, the industry is adopting electronic procedures, such as the electronic air waybill, to reduce the amount of paper documentation accompanying each shipment and increasing the security and safety of the transportation. Many retailers are making an effort to integrate the air cargo delivery process with their customer service offering to respond to increasing consumer pressure.

An industry expert estimates that 15-20 tonnes of air cargo is worth 30-40 economy passenger seats, when both are on passenger planes.

However, with the exception of the integrators (FedEx, UPS, DHL and TNT) the air cargo industry continues to suffer as the by-product ‘poor-relation’ of the passenger business.

In 2017, the IATA observed a 9% rise in freight tonne kilometers: air cargo demand is strong due to industrial production and global trade growth above expansion of e-commerce, outpacing capacity as available tonne kilometers grew by 3%. Boeing is doubling its 767F production since 2016 to three per month in 2020.