Air cargo boom collides with the rising cost of aviation

Global economic growth and the particular strength of the technology and manufacturing sectors have left the airfreight industry riding high.

That said, the sector finds itself uniquely pinched by factors outside its control. Those factors, of course, include runaway fuel prices.

But cargo airlines, aircraft lessors and freighter conversion shops are also reeling from the surging expense of acquiring aircraft and engines, and then maintaining those assets.

Lease rates for older Boeing 777-300ERs – prime candidates for cargo conversions – have increased $200,000 monthly in the last two years, partly because passenger airlines are holding on to such types, Anna Kopinski, director of asset valuations at mBa Aviation, said last week at the Cargo Facts Symposium in Nashville.

This story was originally published by Air Cargo News. Read the full story at Air Cargo News →