Cargolux Ranks Among the Top 10 Cargo Carriers

FedEx and Lufthansa remained the world’s largest freight airlines measured in domestic and international freight ton kilometers (FTKs) last year, the US magazine Air Cargo World reports in its September issue. Based on IATA figures, the survey shows Cargolux at 10th position. Another listing, measured in international scheduled freight ton kilometers only, puts Cargolux at No. 8. The same ranking shows Cargolux as Europe’s third biggest cargo carrier, behind Lufthansa and Air France. The fact that both are combination carriers makes Cargolux the biggest all-cargo carrier in Europe.

Air Cargo World notes that the cargo-rich got richer, with seven of the top 10 airlines growing by double digits in 2002 and commanding some 52 percent of the market.

However, carriers from fast-growing parts of the world are climbing up the ladder. China’s three main carriers expanded their freight traffic a combined 17.6 percent and half of the top 25 air cargo carriers are based in the Asia-Pacific region.

With nearly 13 billion FTKs and over 10 percent market share among the top 50 airlines, FedEx was the world’s leader in cargo traffic by a large margin over No. 2, Lufthansa. But a huge share of the FedEx traffic, and that of No. 4, United Parcel Service, was built on their enormous express networks in the domestic U.S. market. The fact that Cargolux has no domestic traffic, puts it at a slight disadvantage in this listing. On the international front, the industry was sharply dispersed, with market leader Lufthansa holding just 7.6 percent of the market, suggesting shippers and forwarders were spreading their traffic around.

Without their domestic networks, FedEx slips to No. 6 worldwide and UPS stands at No. 13, while Cargolux clocks in at No. 8. Interestingly, both integrators slipped from their ranking on the international listing of 2001.