According to Boeing’s 2024 World Air Cargo Forecast (WACF), its biennial analysis of industry trends, air cargo traffic is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 4% through 2043.

The 2024 WACF revealed several insights, including that the global air cargo fleet is forecast to rise to 3,900 airplanes by 2043, a two-thirds increase from 2,340 freighters in 2023.

Darren Hulst, Boeing’s vice president of commercial marketing, said: “As the quickest and most reliable way to move goods, air cargo’s sustained growth has returned the industry to its long-term trend.

“There will be many drivers for continued freighter demand over the next 20 years, including expansion of emerging markets and global growth in manufacturing and e-commerce.”

Driven by demand in high-growth Asian markets, the large widebody freighter fleet is expected to nearly double, and nearly half of production and conversion deliveries will replace retiring freighters with more capable and fuel-efficient models due to recent market needs, with many older jets remaining in service.

For regional movers, the WACF reports that East and South Asian markets will see the highest traffic growth per year, driven by expanding economies and consumer demand. With the Asia-Pacific fleet expected to nearly triple, carriers in that region will require the most deliveries (980), followed closely by North America (955). These two regions will account for more than two-thirds of global deliveries. Also, India’s domestic air cargo market is expected to nearly quadruple as express and e-commerce networks expand.

For express carriers, the WACF forecasts they will serve one quarter of the air cargo market (up from current 18%). Express carriers are also poised to grow faster than the industry average due to an increasing role in e-commerce distribution and the expansion of express networks in emerging markets.

The complete 2024 World Air Cargo Forecast can be found online.

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