United State plane maker, Boeing, has projected that global airfreight traffic will rise at an average pace of 4.2% over the next 20 years, leading to sales of new aircraft of US$280 billion over the same period.
Vice president of Boeing, Randy Tinseth, said the ongoing rise in e-commerce was one of the key air cargo comeback triggers. “After parking or scrapping freighters during the decade-long slump, many package carriers don’t have enough aircraft on hand to keep pace with demand,” he said.
Last week alone Boeing netted $18.2 billion in freighter sales and commitments at the Farnborough International Airshoe, including deals for 48 of the cargo-hauling version of the 777 jet. According to CNBC News, Boeing’s rival, Airbus, garnered around US$10bn in business at the United Kingdom airshow,
Boeing highlighted on its website recently that airlines that operated freighters generated 90% of total air cargo industry revenues.
