The World's Top 50 Cargo Airlines

The first tier of the 2007 Top 50 Cargo Airlines worldwide looks a lot like the 2006 ranking with FedEx Express, UPS, Korean Air and Lufthansa retaining their No. 1 through No. 4 positions. With a 17.4 percent growth last year, Cathay Pacific, and its subsidiary Dragonair, bumped Singapore Airlines from the No. 6 slot, while China Airlines moved up a notch to No. 7, with Air France close behind at No. 8.

FedEx and UPS retained their vaulted positions despite punishing high fuel costs, a faltering economy and a noticeable decline in domestic air cargo. Significant quarterly losses in early 2008 showed how even the integrated express carriers continue to get pounded financially. FedEx lost USD 241 million in the three months ending May 31 compared with a profit of USD 610 million for the same quarter in 2007, while UPS saw its net profit fall 21 percent in its second quarter.

Korean Air, which slowed its growth engine significantly last year in the face of declining yields and migration of traffic to ocean vessels, retained its No. 3 overall position and the airline remains the world's largest international freight airline with 9.5 million freight tonne kilometers flown.

Air France's elevation to the No. 8 spot and its partner KLM Cargo's jump to the No. 12 position from No. 14 can be attributed to a rejuvenation of its fleet and tight cost controls, which has seen a significant bump in profits.

The fastest growing carrier last year among the Top 50 airlines was Shanghai Airlines, which jumped from No. 57 to No. 42 and expanded its business 60.8 percent. Following close behind was No. 33 Qatar Airways, which posted a 50.6 percent growth from 2006 to 2007.

The long-term growth of the industry remains in parts of Asia and the Middle East, where Emirates moved up to the No. 9 spot from No. 12 despite slowing from 19.9 percent growth the year before. Air China, the world's fifth largest domestic cargo carrier, grew 12.3 percent last year and moved up to No. 16 from No. 18.

Not all Asia and Middle East carriers showed traffic gains in 2007. Nippon Cargo Airlines, which slipped to No. 28 from No. 26, showed a 17.2 percent decline in traffic last year over 2006. Gulf Air's growth dropped 26.5 percent in 2007, the second straight annual decline.

A number of combination carriers posted modest gains or losses in air freight traffic. Yet United Airlines, at No. 18, showed 15.6 percent traffic growth last year. American Airlines retained its No. 20 position, increasing traffic 4 percent in 2007. Northwest Airlines, which left Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2007 and is awaiting regulatory approval to merge with Delta Air Lines, posted a 9.4 percent decline in traffic in 2007, dropping to No. 19 from No. 17.

The top 50 list is based on freight traffic, measured in freight tonne kilometers flown, reported by the International Air Transport Association and on figures provided by airlines.

In a change from previous years, we have sought to include only carriers in scheduled service rather than "wet lease" carriers. That means that carriers such as Atlas Air, Evergreen International Airlines, Air Atlanta Icelandic and the defunct Gemini Air Cargo are not included. U.S. carrier ABX Air operates largely on an ACMI basis, is included mostly as a proxy for DHL in the United States.

Our goal remains to show the relative scale of all carriers that fly cargo. Carriers that have ceased operations are not listed in this year's top 50.

Where available, we have included revenue figures and notable orders for aircraft, particularly freighters.