Strong year boosts Boeing freighter forecast

Strong year boosts Boeing freighter forecast    Aircraft manufacturer Boeing is projecting the world's freighter fleet will increase from 1,750 to 2,980 aircraft over the next 20 years, including 740 new-production freighters, according to a report by Air Cargo News.
   The rest of the increased fleet would be made of freighters converted from passenger planes. Of the newbuilds, 520 would be large aircraft (80 tons or more capacity), with the rest being medium-sized planes capable of carrying 40 to 80 tons. Smaller freighters would be converted from passenger aircraft.
   Boeing forecasts that world air cargo traffic will increase at an annual average of 5.9 percent through 2029, an increase helped immeasurably by projections for a nearly 14 percent increase in volume in 2010.
   'The inclusion of the high-traffic growth levels in 2010, following the recession, is driving our cargo forecast upward,' said Randy Tinseth, vice president of marketing, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. 'However, the strength of the industry and its growth will continue to be driven by sound fundamentals, speed and reliability, consumer product innovation and global industrial interdependence.'