How is cargo transported by airplane?

Nowadays, products and goods are transported from different countries. For example, here in the Netherlands we can take advantage of products from South America and vice versa. Although the cargo is mainly transported by trucks and boats, the airplane is also becoming an increasingly popular means of transport. But how does airplane transport work exactly? We would like to explain this to you!

What is air transport?

Air transport can generally be seen as transporting goods and products by plane. The concept of air system also includes the airports, control systems, and airlines. Furthermore, airplanes are useful for transporting passengers and freight/cargo shipments. Especially the last one is becoming more popular over the years. Some passenger flights also transport a small amount of cargo shipments. However, most cargo shipments are exclusively transported by cargo shipment airplanes. Opposed to all other types of transport, airplane transport is very efficient in a few ways. Air transport allows valuable products to be moved over long distances in a shorter period of time, which is useful for transport between continents that are far apart.

How are the goods stored?

Basically, all kinds of goods that are being transported by plane, are being stored in a Unit Load Device. A Unit Load Device (ULD) especially designed for transporting cargo by plane. ULDs allow us to transport any type of cargo, such as passenger suitcases and perishable goods to horses and Formula-1 cars. These ULDs are crucial in transporting airplane cargo safely. They make sure that the products and goods are being stored in a secure way, which prevent the storage from moving around and damaging during the flight. Furthermore, ULDs eliminate the need for manual loading and maximise the use of the aircraft’s cargo space. ULDs are divided into two main categories: aircraft containers and aircraft pallet/net combinations.