The air freight industry turnaround that began in mid-2013 after several years of mostly flat or declining demand took firm root in 2014, and gave us a year of modest (about 5%) growth. This was followed by another year of growth in 2015, although at an even more modest (about 2%) level. But one good year in 2010 and the two low-growth years in 2014 and 2015 have not been enough to raise the market all that far above its pre-recession peak in 2007. Through those years, passenger demand continued to grow strongly, and carriers worldwide responded by adding capacity - expanding their long-haul fleets with cargo-friendly 777s, and A330s, and more recently with 787s and A350s. Some of these have been used to replace older types, but for the most part the new aircraft were in addition to existing capacity. So it is hardly a surprise, given an eight-year period from 2008 through 2015 in which there has been little increase in demand for air freight but a massive increase in belly capacity, that carriers' hunger for main-deck capacity has waned.
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