Korean overtakes Lufthansa as top international air freight airline

Korean overtakes Lufthansa as top international air freight airline    Korean Air Cargo overtook long-time number one carrier Lufthansa to become the world’s top air freight mover in 2004, according to unofficial statistics of the International Air Transport Association.
   The latest ranking marks the realization of Korean Air Cargo’s goal to become the world’s largest commercial airline cargo operation in the international market.
   Korean carried an international traffic of 8.2 billion FTKs (freight ton-kilometers) in 2004, ahead of Lufthansa Cargo, at 8 billion FTKs. Lufthansa had occupied the number one rank since 1986.
   IATA will publish its annual statistics by airline later this week.
   The top 10 international air freight airlines for 2004 were, in descending order: Korean, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, China Airlines, FedEx, Eva Airways, Air France, British Airways and Cargolux. Among the larger U.S. airlines, not including FedEx, UPS was ranked 14th, Northwest 18th, American Airlines 19th, United 20th and Delta 26th.
   IATA also ranked airlines by domestic traffic, putting FedEx, UPS and Northwest as the three largest domestic air freight carriers worldwide.