Air cargo is any property carried or to be carried in an

aircraft An aircraft ( aircraft) is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or, i ...

. Air cargo comprises air freight, air express and airmail.

Aircraft types

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. A passenger aircraft can also be used as a preighter in which the entire passenger cabin is temporarily dedicated to carrying freight. * 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.

History

20th century

The first cargo flight took place on the 7 November 1910 in the U.S. between

Dayton Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

and Columbus in

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. Philip Orin Parmelee piloted a Wright Model B aeroplane 65 miles (105 km) carrying a package of 200 pounds of silk for the opening of a store. Newspaper clippings quoted the

Wright brothers The Wright brothers, Orville Wright (August 19, 1871 – January 30, 1948) and Wilbur Wright (April 16, 1867 – May 30, 1912), were American aviation List of aviation pioneers, pioneers generally credited with inventing, building, and flyin ...

as stating he covered the distance in 66 minutes, but the flight was officially recorded at 57 minutes, a world speed record at the time. It was the first "cargo only" flight solely for the transport of goods; the first flight commissioned by a client, and the first example of multimodal air transport, since the pieces of silk were transported by car from Columbus aerodrome to the store. The world's first official airmail flight by airplane took place on 18 February 1911, at a large exhibition in the

United Provinces of Agra and Oudh The United Provinces of Agra and Oudh was a province of India under the British Raj, which existed from 22 March 1902 to 1937; the official name was shortened by the Government of India Act 1935 to United Provinces (UP), by which the province ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. The organizer of the aviation display, Walter Windham, was able to secure permission from the postmaster general in India to operate an airmail service in order to generate publicity for the exhibition and to raise money for charity. This first airmail flight was piloted by Henri Pequet, who flew 6,500 letters a distance of 13 km (8.1 mi), from

Allahabad Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...

to Naini—the nearest station on the Bombay-Calcutta line to the exhibition. The aircraft used was a Humber-Sommer biplane with about fifty horsepower (37 kW), and it made the journey in thirteen minutes. The world's first scheduled airmail post service took place in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

between the

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

suburb of

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the London Borough of Barnet, northwest London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient Manorialism, manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has ...

, and the Postmaster General's office in

Windsor, Berkshire Windsor is a historic town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is the site of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, British monarch. The town is situated we ...

, on September 9, 1911. It was part of the celebrations for

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. George was born during the reign of his pa ...

's coronation and at the suggestion of Windham, who based his proposal on the successful experiment he had overseen in India. The service ran for just under a month, transporting 35 bags of mail in 16 flights. In the early 1920s, air cargo developed rapidly because numerous entrepreneurs realized aircraft could move high value and low volume consignments much faster than the railroads and shipping companies. The first scheduled flight from

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in 1919 had only one passenger, but carried leather for a shoe manufacturer and

grouse Grouse are a group of birds from the order (biology), order Galliformes, in the family (biology), family Phasianidae. Grouse are presently assigned to the Tribe (biology), tribe Tetraonini (formerly the subfamily Tetraoninae and the family Tetr ...

for a restaurant. Cinema

films A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of Visual arts, visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are gen ...

were also a frequent consignment: original news’ bulletins were first carried to a central laboratory to make copies, and then distributed by air throughout Europe for their release in cinemas. Although there were a few attempts to organize air freight airlines from the 1920s on, the first commercial airlines that were all-cargo did not emerge until after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

World War II

In 1945, at a conference in

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.International Air Transport Association. In 1948, Berlin was jointly controlled by the Western Allies and

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, although the Soviet Union held the area surrounding the city and thus land access. During the

Berlin Blockade The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948 – 12 May 1949) was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. During the multinational occupation of post–World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, roa ...

, this land access was closed, and an airlift remained the only option to get increasingly urgent deliveries of food, coal, and other supplies to

West Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...

. Over 330 days to 12 May 1949 a total of 2.26 million tons of cargo were airlifted to Berlin, an average of 6,800 tons a day, 80% by the US and 20% by the UK.

Post-World War II

Although freight traffic developed modestly, reaching only 800,000 tonnes worldwide by the mid-1950s, the world economy was hitting its post-World War II stride.

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

were emerging from their period of purgatory and were poised to take the world of business by storm, the United States was approaching the height of its economic dominance, and Western Europe had recovered from the war. In 1968,

Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

launched the four engine 747, the first wide-body aircraft. The 747 was the first aircraft capable of transporting full

pallet A pallet (also called a skid) is a flat transport structure, which supports goods in a stable fashion while being lifted by a forklift, a pallet jack, a Loader (equipment), front loader, a Jack (mechanical), jacking device, or an erect cra ...

s in the cargo hold, revolutionizing the air cargo industry. Despite widespread hopes for a vibrant industry, for decades the air freight sector 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 to be 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 the 1990s. The catalysts for the renewed growth in the sector were the express parcel carriers, typified by

FedEx FedEx Corporation, originally known as Federal Express Corporation, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate holding company specializing in Package delivery, transportation, e-commerce, and ...

DHL DHL (originally named after founders Dalsey, Hillblom and Lynn) is a multinational Import-Export Expert Company, founded in the United States and headquartered in Bonn, Germany. It provides courier, package delivery, and express mail service, ...

, PostNL, 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.

21st century

The rise of internet 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 The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is an airline trade association founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff conferences tha ...

observed a 9% rise in freight tonne kilometers: air cargo demand is strong due to

industrial production Industrial production is a measure of output of the industrial sector of the economy. The industrial sector includes manufacturing, mining, and utilities. Although these sectors contribute only a small portion of gross domestic product (GDP), they ...

and global trade growth above expansion of

e-commerce E-commerce (electronic commerce) refers to commercial activities including the electronic buying or selling products and services which are conducted on online platforms or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile co ...

, outpacing capacity as available tonne kilometers grew by 3%.

doubled its 767F production since 2016 to three per month in 2020, and anticipates that total global air cargo traffic will more than double by 2041.Weitering, H.
Boeing Projects Air Cargo Traffic to Double by 2041
''Aviation International News'', published 9 November 2022, accessed 24 November 2022

References

{{Authority control

Cargo In transportation, cargo refers to goods transported by land, water or air, while freight refers to its conveyance. In economics, freight refers to goods transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. The term cargo is also used in cas ...