ABSTRACT
Part of air cargo's relative 'invisibility' from academic research may be explained in this chapter as a consequence of the sector's distinctive operating characteristics that can render it an unappealing or intimidating prospect for study. The chapter aims to bring discussions of air cargo to the centre of academic inquiry into global mobility. This is followed by a section that documents the historical development of air cargo operations worldwide before the contemporary scale and scope of the sector is explored and possible future scenarios for air cargo operations in an increasingly capacity constrained, environmentally conscious and economically uncertain world are discussed. In order to examine the nature and complexities of air cargo mobilities, this chapter is subdivided into four subsections which detail the airports, the airlines, the attributes and the aircraft that characterise contemporary air cargo mobilities. Overall, the future for air cargo mobilities is likely to remain uncertain, with growth in some world markets tempered by contraction in others.
