Evaluation of Ohio-Michigan Regional Airports for Air Cargo Transportation: Freight Forwarders Perspective. Final Report. Focus Area: Infrastructure Utilization. Year 5.

摘要

Over the past decade, there has been consistent growth in demand for air cargo deliveries. According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), in 2007, the value of air cargo shipment goods in the US is over $1.8 trillion, a 31% increase in just five years (Margreta et al., 2009). Annual forecast reports by both Airbus (2010) and Boeing (2010) predict a 5.9% annual growth rate for global air cargo tonnage over the next 20 years. The unprecedented growth in the global trade has further increased the importance of just-in-time (JIT) logistics and contributed to the growth of the air cargo industry. According to a recent study for The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA), the global air cargo industry carried 100 billion ton-miles with a direct revenue exceeding $50 billion in 2005 (Kasarda et al., 2006). The biennial World Air Cargo Forecast (WACF) by the Boeing forecasts that the world air cargo traffic will grow at a rate of 5.8% per year over the next 20 years (Boeing, 2010). This forecast in conforms to the national trend in last two decades where air-cargo grew the most among all transportation modes measured by value, tons, or ton-miles. The value of air freight shipments almost doubled (97 percent) during this time, followed by increases in inter-modal air-road combinations of 67 percent and trucking of 42 percent. By tonnage, air freight shipments increased 46 percent, followed by trucking with 26 percent and rail with 20 percent. In 2006, air freight has accounted for approximately 35% of global merchandise trade by value, which is equivalent to US$4.2 trillion of the US$12 trillion value of trade (International Air Transport Association, 2008). The eminent role of air cargo industry is attributable to the requirement of global selling and sourcing and just-in-time logistics that demands for agile and reliable shipping over long distances of smaller quantities where no other means of transportation can compete with air mode (Kasarda et al., 2006).