The world's top cargo airlines

Emirates was the seventh biggest cargo airline in 2008

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There are many ways of measuring size and in the case of the world's major cargo airlines, it could be done by revenue, cargo tonnes carried, miles flown e.t.c. The problem is that a set of like for like figures is rarely available for each entity.

So for the purposes of this review, arabiansupplychain.com turned to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the ultimate source for all things aviation related, and its annual publication, World Air Transport Statistics.

Now in its 53rd edition, World Air Transport Statistics is the Encyclopaedia Britannica of the global aviation industry. It assembles the key figures of over 250 airlines and claims to represent a complete statistical picture of the airline industry in 2008.

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IATA’s rankings of cargo airlines are based on total scheduled freight tonne kilometres (FTKs). Although IATA provides a detailed breakdown of both domestic and international FTKs flown, arabiansupplychain.com took each airline’s total FTKs into account in the rankings.

Based on this system, Federal Express was by far the world’s largest cargo airline in 2008, driven by its success in its home market. In fact, a look at the names on the list demonstrates two key things: the sheer size of the domestic US market and the emergence of the Far East as the consumer electronics factory of the world.

With the global downturn now in full swing, the numbers, if not the names, in next year’s list may look very different.

Here is the list of the world’s top ten cargo airlines in 2008:
1. Federal Express
2. UPS Airlines
3. Korean Air
4. Cathay Pacific Airways
5. Lufthansa
6. Singapore Airlines
7. Emirates
8. Air France
9. Cargolux
10. China Airlines

Please click on the numbers below for airline profiles and key performance information.