A cargo aircraft is a fixed-wing aircraft that is designed or converted for the carriage of cargo rather than passengers. Such aircraft generally feature one or more large doors for loading cargo. Passenger amenities are removed or not installed, although there are usually basic comfort facilities for the crew such as a galley, lavatory, and bunks in larger planes. Freighters may be operated by civil passenger or cargo airlines, by private individuals, or by government agencies of individual countries such as the armed forces.
A Volga-Dnepr Airlines An-124 prepares for loading in 2008
The Vickers Vernon, introduced in 1921, was the first cargo plane for military troops
The Arado Ar 232, the first purpose built cargo aircraft
A U.S. Air Force Lockheed C-130 Hercules, the archetypal military transport aircraft, over the Atlantic Ocean in 2014
Cargo airlines are airlines mainly dedicated to the transport of cargo by air. Some cargo airlines are divisions or subsidiaries of larger passenger airlines.
In 2018, airline cargo traffic represented 262,333 million tonne-kilometres with a 49.3% load factor: 52.1% for dedicated cargo operations, and 47.9% within mixed operations.
A Boeing 777F of FedEx Express, which is the largest cargo airline in the world.
A Boeing 747-400F of Cargolux
UPS hub at Louisville International Airport
The Antonov An-225, formerly the world's largest aircraft, used by Antonov Airlines before its destruction in the Russo-Ukrainian War