FAA FORECASTS STRONG CARGO GROWTH

FAA FORECASTS STRONG CARGO GROWTH    Air freight moving to, from and within the United States will almost double in the next decade, the Federal Aviation Administration has predicted in its forecast for 2000-2011.
   The FAA expects cargo revenue-ton-miles to increase to 51 billion in 2011 from an estimated 28 billion last year. The FAA predicts cargo RTMs will rise 6 percent to 29.7 billion this year, after a 1.5-percent decline last year related to economic weakness in Asia and Latin America.
      Federal regulators also predict strong passenger growth. To handle rising demand, the FAA expects the U.S. large commercial aircraft fleet to increase to 6,400 planes in 2011 from 4,312 in 1999.
   Cargo carriers are expected in the next two years to add 85 freighters to the collective U.S. cargo fleet, which will total 1,098 in 2001, the agency said.