E-commerce boom requires freighters remodeling
2018/12/20
To catch up with the world’s air cargo volume growth of 4.2% yearly, more than 2,600 new freighters are needed over the next 20 years. US aircraft manufacturer Boeing predicted that the market may need 1,670 existing aircrafts (1170 short/middle-distance and 500 long-distance aircrafts) to be converted to freighters and also 980 new medium to large size freighters to cater a demand as per ‘the world air cargo prediction report’. Due to express deliveries volume increase in the region of developing countries, the share of short and middle distance jet freighters will rise from current 37% to 39% among global fleet of freighters. 
Due to fast economic growth and expanding crowd of middle-class consumers in Asia, the annual average demand for airfreight is expected to grow by 6.3% for China and 5.8% for East Asia region. Growth rates on East Asia-North America, Europe-East Asia routes are slightly higher than the global average, while North America-Europe rate is below the global average. Another generator for the global air cargo market is an e-commerce market. Growing up by 20% a year, the global e-commerce market is expected to reach 5 trillion dollars in 2021. This prediction is based on the rapid growth of the Chinese express delivery market and the global e-commerce market. China is a new growth generator of the world air cargo market, mainly for fresh food and e-commerce goods. Chinese market shows an amazing growth in freighters fleet, as well as freight volume and new routes. According to CAAC (Civil Aviation Administration of China), compared to the same period of a last year, China’s air cargo volume in July was 595,000 tons, while international cargo volume was 207,000 tons only.Chinese express delivery companies expand routes and require more freightersAs domestic aviation market grows, Chinese express delivery companies are expanding routes and require more freighters. SF Express’s own carrier, SF Airlines, has recently established flights from Shenzhen to Singapore and a B767-300 freighter started to transport Chinese mobile phone parts along with other cargo on that route. This new route was opened shortly after the launch of the Shenzhen-Chennai route in August. The carrier of YTO Express, YTO Airlines, launched direct flight between Zhengzhou and Tokyo followed by Changsha-Manila route. Chinese express companies are also expected to deploy large aircrafts in addition to existing small and middle units for ‘point to point delivery’ such as those of FedEx and UPS. It is also expected that when the number of airports in China reaches 500, prefecture-level administrative regions, being the second level administrative district units of China, will enjoy aviation services.
Due to fast economic growth and expanding crowd of middle-class consumers in Asia, the annual average demand for airfreight is expected to grow by 6.3% for China and 5.8% for East Asia region. Growth rates on East Asia-North America, Europe-East Asia routes are slightly higher than the global average, while North America-Europe rate is below the global average. Another generator for the global air cargo market is an e-commerce market. Growing up by 20% a year, the global e-commerce market is expected to reach 5 trillion dollars in 2021. This prediction is based on the rapid growth of the Chinese express delivery market and the global e-commerce market. China is a new growth generator of the world air cargo market, mainly for fresh food and e-commerce goods. Chinese market shows an amazing growth in freighters fleet, as well as freight volume and new routes. According to CAAC (Civil Aviation Administration of China), compared to the same period of a last year, China’s air cargo volume in July was 595,000 tons, while international cargo volume was 207,000 tons only.Chinese express delivery companies expand routes and require more freightersAs domestic aviation market grows, Chinese express delivery companies are expanding routes and require more freighters. SF Express’s own carrier, SF Airlines, has recently established flights from Shenzhen to Singapore and a B767-300 freighter started to transport Chinese mobile phone parts along with other cargo on that route. This new route was opened shortly after the launch of the Shenzhen-Chennai route in August. The carrier of YTO Express, YTO Airlines, launched direct flight between Zhengzhou and Tokyo followed by Changsha-Manila route. Chinese express companies are also expected to deploy large aircrafts in addition to existing small and middle units for ‘point to point delivery’ such as those of FedEx and UPS. It is also expected that when the number of airports in China reaches 500, prefecture-level administrative regions, being the second level administrative district units of China, will enjoy aviation services.Get in touch