Boeing report points to long-term cargo growth
Asia, e-commerce and continued growth: the key themes from Boeing’s biennial World Air Cargo Forecast
29 Oct 2018

Boeing’s World Air Cargo Forecast, which looks ahead for 20 years, forecasts that global air cargo demand will grow by 4.2 per cent each year over the next two decades. It said this would be led by the growing economies across Asia and their burgeoning middle classes. The report, which is published and updated every two years, forecast growth from the Chinese mainland and intra-East Asian markets to be above the global rate – 6.3 per cent and 5.8 per cent per year respectively.

‘We continue to see that the strongest growth will be associated with East Asia,’ said Tom Hoang, Boeing Regional Director, Cargo Marketing for East Asia and Europe. ‘East Asia, which currently accounts for about half of the world air cargo traffic share, will increase its share to nearly 60 per cent over the next 20 years.’

A lot of this growth will continue to be triggered by e-commerce. The report outlines that the Chinese mainland’s appetite for consumer goods has seen a 40 per cent surge in goods bought online over the past five years.

Commenting on the report, Cathay Pacific General Manager Cargo Commercial, Nelson Chin said: ‘Our dedicated fleet together with a large network and fleet for passenger services will continue to make us a key player in global air freight. We will continue to expand our network through our state-of-the-art freighter and passenger fleets, and enrich our service offerings to better meet our customers’ needs.

‘While the Boeing report looks to long-term trends, we are keeping a very close eye on near-term developments from the escalation in tariffs between the US and the Chinese mainland. Amid the political wrangling associated with trade negotiations, it’s natural to expect some tentativeness in purchase orders. Crucially, we still believe that the volume of airfreight will continue to be strong, where macroeconomics and consumerism in key leading markets remain robust. The sticky nature of the supply chain means any changes will be more gradual, and could create new demand on other trade lanes. We are monitoring this closely and will adopt an agile approach with our network planning so that we can respond quickly to any changing market demand.’

To read the Boeing World Air Cargo Forecast report, click here.

Cookies settings


Essential cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off. They are usually only set in response to service requests, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in, or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but then some parts of our site will not work. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information.

Experience & personalization cookies

These cookies enable our website to provide enhanced functionality and personalization. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies, some of the content in our website will not be customised for you.

Advertising cookies

Advertising cookies collect information about the browsing habits associated with your device and deliver targeted ads. They are also used by third parties providing their services on this website. Third parties provide these services in return for recognising that you have visited a certain website.

Measurement & analytics cookies

We use analytic cookies to analyse how our visitors use our website. This allows us to provide a high quality experience by customising our offerings and identifying and fixing any issues that arise. We may also use these cookies to highlight articles or site services that we think may interest you, based on your usage of the website.

Feedback