SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Boeing on Friday released its 2022 World Air Cargo Forecast (WACF), predicting strong demand for air cargo services through 2041, with traffic doubling and the world's freighter fleet expanding by more than 60 percent.
The 2022 WACF, a biennial detailed analysis of evolving industry dynamics, projects that the world's cargo fleet will require nearly 2,800 production and converted freighters for growth and replacement through 2041.
A third of deliveries will consist of new production freighters, while the remaining two-thirds will be freighter conversions, according to the Boeing forecast.
The global freighter fleet will grow by more than 1,300 airplanes to more than 3,600 jets over the next two decades. The Asia-Pacific region will take delivery of nearly 40 percent of all freighters, including new and converted freighters, the 2022 WACF suggested.
While dedicated freighters are 8 percent of the total commercial airplane fleet, they continue to carry more than half of all air cargo, with passenger airplanes carrying the remainder as belly cargo, Boeing said.
"While the air cargo market is returning to a more normal pace after historic demand in the last two years, structural factors including express network growth, evolving supply chain strategies and new cargo-market entrants are driving sustained freighter demand," said Darren Hulst, Boeing vice president of Commercial Marketing. "In the global transportation network, air freighters will continue to be a critical enabler to move high-value goods, in increased volume across expanding markets." ■