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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.Allaz, Camille (2005): The History of Air Cargo and Airmail from the 18th Century, p. 8
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, British India. 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 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 between the London suburb of Hendon, and the Postmaster General's office in Windsor, Berkshire, on September 9, 1911. It was part of the celebrations for King George V's coronation and at the suggestion of Walter 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 London to Paris in 1919 had only one passenger, but carried leather for a shoe manufacturer and grouse for a restaurant. Cinema films 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 Cargo airline from the 1920s on, the first commercial airlines that were all-cargo did not emerge until after World War II.
In 1948, Berlin was jointly controlled by the Western Bloc and Soviet Union, although the Soviet Union held the area surrounding the city and thus land access. During the Berlin Blockade, 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. 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.Morrell, Peter S. (2011): Moving Boxes by Air. The Economics of International Air Cargo
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, DHL, 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.
An industry expert estimates that 15-20 tonnes of air cargo is worth 30-40 economy passenger seats, when both are on passenger planes." A barrier to A380 sales in the United States" RunwayGirl, 3 July 2014. Accessed: 20 July 2014.
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 : 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 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
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