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
Air cargo is any property carried or to be carried in an aircraft. Air cargo comprises air freight, air express and airmail.
A FedEx Express Boeing 777F taxiing at Narita International Airport in Tokyo, Japan in 2012
A Volga-Dnepr Airlines An-124 cargo aircraft ready for loading in 2008
Loading airmail cargo in Detroit in the late 1930s
A Douglas C-54 at Berlin Tempelhof Airport during the Berlin Blockade in 1948
