7 Surprising Facts about Air Cargo that you didn’t know before

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7 Surprising Facts about Air Cargo that you didn’t know before

In 1895, Lord Kelvin, president of the Royal Society, famously said: “Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible.” Here are some interesting facts about air cargo shipping to show how humanity has proved him wrong.

The first air cargo was silk

On Nov 7, 1910, just seven years after the Wright brothers made their first successful flight, their “Model B” plane delivered 90 kg of silk from Dayton to Columbus, Ohio. It was only a 100km flight that took the plane a little less than an hour. Oh, and it was also a race between the plane and an express train. Guess who won.

The heaviest single-piece air cargo ever carried weighed 190 tons

It’s quite a difference from the 90 kg of silk. A gas power station generator weighing 189,98 tons was carried from Frankfurt to Yerevan in 2009. The maximum total payload ever shipped was 253,820 kg on a flight from Kyiv to Odesa in Ukraine in 2001. Both of these deliveries were accomplished by the world’s biggest airplane Antonov An-225 Mriya (Dream).

The world’s biggest cargo plane was destroyed in Ukraine –Russia war conflict

Not really one of the fun facts about cargo planes, but we’ve decided to include it anyway. Hostomel Airport near Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, was attacked in the first days of the war. The airport is the home base for the An-225 Mriya, and the plane was there when the battle for Hostomel began. Unfortunately, it couldn’t leave as it was parked for repairs with one of the engines removed. Until the plane is rebuilt, Boeing 747-8F will wear the title of the largest cargo aircraft in the world, although its payload is only half of what Mriya could lift.

Hong Kong is the world’s busiest international cargo airport

It’s been so since 1996. Hong Kong International Airport processes on average 5 million tons of cargo annually. It is about 8% of global air cargo volume. Nipping at its heels is Memphis International Airport thanks to the headquarters of the above-mentioned FedEx Company, the largest aircraft operator in the world.

FedEx is the most successful air cargo carrier in the world

FedEx was founded by Fredrick W. Smith in 1971 in Memphis, Tennessee. Within just over fifty years of its existence, the company has turned into a multinational conglomerate operating over 600 planes. FedEx serves 220 countries and boasts annual revenue of 84 billion dollars.
Ocean carriers now have cargo planes too

This trend started somewhere during the pandemic. Ocean shipping giants like Maersk, MSC and CMA CGM have gained enormous profits from soaring shipping prices, but they know this won’t last forever. So they are using the money to diversify their logistics services. For example, Maersk now operates an in-house fleet of 15 cargo jets and has formed a subsidiary division dubbed Maersk Air Cargo.

Air cargo represents less than 1% of global trade

This is one of the air cargo facts not many people mention. Although air cargo represents 35% of global trade by value, only less than 1% of the total cargo volume is shipped by air. Notwithstanding, planes transport $6 trillion in value of goods. Every year, planes deliver tens of thousands of tons of humanitarian aid, vaccines, and medicines to the remotest corners of our planet.

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Just seven years after the Wright brothers achieved their first successful flight, their "Model B" aircraft transported ninety kilograms of silk from Dayton to Columbus, Ohio. The journey was just 100 kilometers long, and it took the aircraft a little less than an hour to complete. Not only that, but there was also a competition between the fast train and the airplane. Who do you think came out on top?