There are four main types of air cargo carriers that provide different services: 1) Integrated express operators like FedEx, UPS, and DHL that offer door-to-door delivery using aircraft and trucks; 2) All-cargo carriers like Atlas Air Cargo that operate scheduled flights between major airports; 3) Commercial passenger airlines like Delta and Lufthansa that carry cargo in the bellies of passenger planes; 4) Ad-hoc charter carriers like Grand Aire that provide unscheduled airport-to-airport cargo flights. These carriers offer three primary service types: integrated express service, freight forwarding, and airport-to-airport service.

1. Air Cargo Overview
Prof. (Dr.) S N Misra

2. Air Cargo Carriers

3. Air Cargo Carriers
Air cargo services are provided by a segmented
group of air carriers that provide various
services based upon wide ranging customer
demands.
The following four basic types of carriers provide
these services:
• Integrated express operators
• All-cargo carriers
• Commercial service passenger airlines
• Ad-hoc cargo charter carriers

4. Integrated express operators
FedEx, UPS, and DHL operate a fleet of scheduled
aircraft, trucks, and couriers offering door-to-door
delivery service. These carriers operate extensive
hub-and-spoke networks providing expansive
geographic coverage.
In 2003, integrated express carriers accounted for
61 percent of the U.S. domestic air cargo market,
yet held only 12 percent of the international market
(projected to increase to 31 percent by 2019).

5. DHL Cargo plane

6. FedEx Cargo Planes

7. UPS Cargo Plane

8. All-cargo carriers
Atlas Air Cargo, Gemini, etc. generally operate
scheduled wide body aircraft from one major airport
to another, such as Chicago to Tokyo and are highly
reliant on the air freight forwarding industry.
Approximately 10 to 15 percent of world air cargo
traffic is moved by all-cargo carriers, primarily on long-haul
international or transcontinental routes.
Due to their airport-to-airport service structure, all-cargo
carriers are typically concentrated in large, high
volume market airports; geographic coverage is
limited.

9. Atlas Air Cargo

10. Gemini Air Cargo

11. Commercial service passenger airlines
United, Delta, US Airways, Lufthansa,
Air India, etc. are scheduled passenger
airline operators. Space in the bellies
of these aircraft is generally available
to move cargo airport-to-airport.
Commercial air carriers account for the
majority of international air cargo lift.

12. Commercial service passenger airlines
However, within the U.S. domestic market,
commercial carriers account for only 15 to 20
percent of the domestic air cargo – a market
dominated by the integrated express carriers.
The air cargo market share of commercial
passengers carriers, particularly on domestic
routes, has declined significantly due to security
measures and restrictions brought about by the
September 11 terrorist attacks. Pre-September 11,
it was estimated that commercial passenger carriers
accounted for 25 percent of the domestic air cargo
market.

14. Ad-hoc cargo charter carriers
Grand Aire, Volga-Dnepr are unscheduled air
charter operators who move goods from airport-to-
airport. The market share of these operators
is minimal.
Sporadic and unscheduled operations make
tracking tonnage difficult; best estimates put ad-hoc
cargo operator market share at 5 per cent
domestically and 2 to 3 per cent internationally.

15. Grand Aire

16. Volga-Dnepr Airlines

17. Air Cargo Services
The four types of air cargo carriers discussed in
the previous section provide the following three
primary types of air cargo service options:
• Integrated express service
• Freight forwarding
• Airport-to-airport

18. Integrated express
Integrated express carriers move the customer’s
material door-to-door, providing shipment
pickup, transport via air or truck, and delivery.
Integrated express operators include FedEx, UPS,
DHL, Airborne Express, and to a certain extent
U.S. Postal Service (USPS).
Express companies provide next day, document,
and small package services to the customers
they serve. Increasingly, however, express
operators are transporting “heavy” freight,
identified as more than 70 pounds.

19. Integrated express (cont..)
Integrated express carriers operate using a hub-and-
spoke system similar to the passenger airline
system. The hub is the backbone to the integrated
express carrier since it provides connections to each
market.
Each day of operation, flights from around the U.S.
arrive at the hub where packages are offloaded,
sorted in the hub to the appropriate destination
market, and then reloaded onto the aircraft.

20. Freight Forwarding
Freight forwarding companies act as brokers
between the shipper and the carrier (all-cargo,
commercial passenger or ad-hoc charter).
The forwarder handles wide-ranging types and
sizes of freight, from small packages to be
consolidated into container loads, to oversized,
one-time freight movements. These loads are
then tendered to an air cargo carrier or
commercial carrier to deliver to the forwarder’s
agent or subsidiary at another airport.

21. Airport-to-Airport
Airport-to-airport service is provided by all-cargo,
ad-hoc charter and commercial passenger
carriers. Freight must be dropped off at the
airport by the shipper, or the shipper’s freight
forwarder, and must be picked up at the
destination airport by the customer, or the
customer’s freight forwarder. All-cargo carriers
operate airport-to-airport air cargo services for
their customers, but do not offer passenger
service.

22. Cargo Aircraft Types
There are three major kinds of aircraft that serve
as air freighters:
 wide-body jets,
 narrow-body jets, and
 narrow-body turboprop aircraft (commonly
called “feeder aircraft”).

23. Various Wide-body Freighters

24. Boeing 747

25. McDonnell Douglas MD-11

26. Airbus A380

27. Various Narrow-body Freighters

28. Douglas DC9-15

29. McDonnell Douglas MD-80

30. Boeing B727

31. Various Air Cargo Feeder Aircrafts

32. Cessna Caravan

33. Fairchild Metro III

34. Shorts SH360

35. Thank you
very much