1、The Top 50 Cargo AirlinesFedEx and Lufthansa Cargo remained the world's largest freight airlines last year but the list of the world's top 50 cargo carriers suggests an airline industry in the midst of a deep restructuring even as air operators seek stability. The changes were evident as the

2、 cargo-rich got richer, with seven of the top 10 airlines growing by double digits in 2002 and those carriers commanding some 52 percent of the market reported in the 2003 edition of the International Air Transport Association's World Air Transport Statistics.Deeper into the list, carriers from

3、fast-growing parts of the world are climbing up the ladder, however. China's three main carriers expanded their freight traffic a combined 17.6 percent last year and fully half of the world's top 25 air cargo carriers were based in the Asia-Pacific region. After small Austrian Airlines (No.

4、48), which leaped 57 percent in its cargo traffic last year, only FedEx at 20.2 percent intruded on a list of airlines from Asia and the Middle East that grew at better than 20 percent over 2001. The expansion in the Far East marked the realization of forecasts that have projected Asia-based air tra

5、de, particularly intra-Asia business, as leading the world. Dubai-based Emirates, which has expanded its cargo business two-and-a-half times in just five years, grew by nearly a third last year. China Southern Airlines and Hong Kong's Dragonair, based a little more than 100 miles apart in Southe

6、rn China, expanded 28.6 percent and 26.9 percent, respectively. China Southern has been the fastest-growing airline in the world in the last five years, tripling its business in the time and growing at a rate of better than 40 percent a year. With its nearly 13 billion freight tonne-kilometers and b

7、etter than 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 traffic at FedEx and No. 4 United Parcel Service was built on their enormous express networks in the domestic United States

8、market. 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 slipped to No. 6 worldwide and UPS was No. 13 an

9、d both integrators actually slipped from their rankings on the international side in 2001. Despite the impact of SARS and the Iraq war this year, it appears that the cargo-rich are likely to get bigger this year and far into the future. With its jumbo-sized orders for the Airbus A380 "superjumb

10、o," Emirates is certainly adding the capacity for growth in coming years. They may not move much closer to the market leader, however - the other big buyer of the A380 freighter is FedEx.The Top 50 Cargo AirlinesRankAirlineFTKs% Changeover 2001% Changesince '975-year Rate1.FedEx12,99220.244

11、.18.82.Lufthansa7,167-3.Singapore Airlines6,77915.942.48.54.United Parcel Service6,60210.917.53.55.Korean Air6,0466.Air France4,8624.9-0.9-0.27.Cathay Pacific4,7848.China Airlines4,49013.9*n/an/a* IATA figures for 2001 unavailable, growth based on airline's interna

12、l operation reports9.Japan Airlines4,3910.Cargolux4,15710.383.916.811.EVA Air4,126n/an/an/a12.British Airways4,113.KLM3,9914.Northwest Airlines2,9615.United Airlines2,790-0.4-14.0-2.816.Asiana Airlines2,579n/an/an/a17.American Airlines2,577-18.Nippon

13、 Cargo Airlines2,21212.721.94.419.Emirates1,96131.1175.035.020.Malaysia Airline System1,92425.534.97.021.Air China1,87617.3159.131.822.Thai Airways1,8249.312.72.523.Delta Air Lines1,823-24.Air Canada1,5911.429.85.925.Qantas1,467-6.6-13.3-2.726.LanChile1,4419.552.810.627.Alitalia1,389-9.2-3.

14、5-0.728.All Nippon Airways1,2503.00.90.229.Varig1,169-0.4-10.2-2.030.SWISS1,028-37.2*-43.9-8.7* SWISS came into existence in late 2001; comparisons are to Swissair.31.China Eastern1,0208.6160.232.032.China Southern1,00628.6202.140.433.Continental Airlines9203.771.614.334.El Al Israel Airlines91224.3

15、n/an/a35.Virgin Atlantic895-36.Saudi Arabian Airlines8627.8-6.9-1.437.Iberia7938.South African Airways7623.781.916.439.Scandinavian Airline System70213.01.20.240.Air New Zealand680-10.2-26.2-5.241.Dragonair64626.946.29.242.Atlas Air597n/an/an/a43.Aeroflot Russian Airlines5309.713

16、.22.644.US Airways5196.170.714.145.European Air Transport51316.352.210.446.Gulf Air507-47.CAL Cargo Airlines410n/an/an/a48.Austrian Airlines39657.1140.028.049.Turkish Airlines37610.947.59.550.Air-India354-2.5-9.2-1.8Source: International Air Transport Association Cargo AlliancesCombined international freight tonnage of Skyteam Cargo and WOW, the two largest air freight alliances among combination airlines.(in thousands of tonnes)Skyteam CargoA