In the latest of its periodic forecasts of the global air cargo market, Chicago-based Boeing Co. foresees 20 years of strong growth, with the worldwide freighter airplane fleet doubling to 3,530 aircraft from the current 1,760.
Boeing figures 2,870 freighters will enter the fleet by the year 2024 and 1,100 cargo planes will be retired, for a net gain of 1,770 airplanes.
Freighters will provide more than 50% of the world's total air cargo capacity, a slight increase from the current level, although as a percentage of the total world airplane fleet, freighters will decrease to 10% from the current 10.5% as the size of the average freighter increases, Boeing predicts.
