The overall health of the air cargo and air freight industry received an extremely encouraging signal this week as the world's largest producer of aircraft Boeing (BA) announced very positive projections for the global air-freight market for the coming decades.
The Boeing Company announced that they project the worldwide global air freight market can double over the next twenty years, with much of this underpinned by the ongoing need to transport goods by air from Asia to North America. Boeing forecast that carriers will also purchase some 840 new freight planes during those two decades at a projected value of $240 billion with an annual rate (global) of air freight growth of 4.7 percent. Very healthy numbers indeed and a reiteration of the overall continuing stability of the sector. Naturally the economy dictates the relative growth and contraction of our industry but when Boeing react so well to market changes it reinforces the overall growth and full recovery of the air freight industry. In turn this will breed further confidence in air cargo and air freight.
It's also projected that airlines are likely to convert over 1,300 passenger aircraft to freighter configurations over that time which will further reinforce the global fleet of air freight services. Air cargo volumes have been increasing since Q2 2013, growth built on economic stability, consumer confidence and a remarkable demand for electronic goods. 2014 has the potential to be the best growth year for the industry since 2010 and here at Air Freight we're well positioned to continue being a market leader in the North American urgent air freight and air cargo field.
Larger aircraft production dominates the Boeing forecast with more than two-thirds of those to be built expected to be planes such as the 747 and 777 (above) which have the capacity for more than 80 tons of cargo. The projections report that Asia-North America and Europe-Asia will remain the largest intercontinental markets but domestic air cargo rates also look set to rebound. Air freight traffic has increased 4.5 percent in the first eight months of this year, according to the International Air Transport Association.
Of course we're excited to see such projections coming from a source as renowned as Boeing and we firmly believe that we're equipped to be your premier air freight solution for the North American air cargo market. We'll continue to provide our wide range of services including air freight, air cargo charters and extra large cargo shipments throughout the continent.