Fuelled by a 10 per cent annual growth rate, China’s flourishing air cargo industry will need nearly 570 freighters in service by 2026 – a full 10 fold increase over current fl eet capacity – according to the China Aviation Industry Corporation I (AVIC I).

According to AVIC I cargo airlines in China operated a total of 46 dedicated freighters at the end of 2006. “China’s air cargo market will maintain an annual growth rate of 10.5 per cent in the next two decades, which is slightly higher than the growth rate of the passenger transport market,” said AVIC I’s Liao Quanwang. He added that China’s buoyant international trade was driving this expansion.

Mr Liao also highlighted how the focus placed by China on modernising its overseas trade procedures – with additional emphasis on the export of modern technology – would also affect the air cargo sector in a positive way. According to the US manufacturer Boeing, the air cargo sector will by 2026, see a four-fold increase in the number of cargo aircraft operated.