How Airline Freight Works

by Karim Nice
Air-freight planes move anything that can be bought or sold. See how goods are shipped worldwide.
Air-freight planes move anything that can be bought or sold. See how goods are shipped worldwide.
2008 HowStuffWorks

You can ship just about anything by air. Letters, packages, cars, horses, construction equipment and even other airplanes can be shipped air freight. The planes that carry all of this stuff range from normal commercial airlineres to some amazing flying mutants!

Air freight can be separated into three main categories:

  • Freight that rides on passenger airlines
  • Freight that rides on dedicated cargo planes
  • Huge payloads that ride in super cargo planes

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In this edition of HowStuffWorks, we'll take a look at these three different types o­f freight and learn about the sometimes bizarre aircraft that carry them.