In October 2018, The International Air Cargo Association hosted the biennial Air Cargo Forum in Toronto. This forum brought together over 500 experts in the field of air cargo from all over the world, representing shippers, freight forwarders, air carriers, regulators, suppliers and academia.
The forum was an opportunity to discuss the latest topics regarding air cargo, such as digitalization, the use of blockchains, the introduction of artificial intelligence and the potential of unmanned air freight. More importantly, it was an opportunity to review the value of air cargo and its benefits to society.
Air cargo represents about 35% of global trade in terms of value, despite representing less than 1% of all global trade in tonnage. According to the International Air Transport Association, 20 million parcels worth $25 billion and weighing 140,000 tonnes are transported by air cargo every day. These shipments are made up of a number of consumer and industrial goods, including 1.1 million smartphones, 80,000 flowers and almost 7,000 vaccines. Air cargo also plays a key role in disaster relief, bringing much-needed food, water and medicine to affected areas.
In Canada, 1.3 million tonnes of air freight were enplaned and deplaned at airports in 2017. Toronto Pearson International Airport was the busiest, with 443,000 tonnes of air cargo, followed by Vancouver International Airport, with 281,000 tonnes, and Montréal–Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, with 100,000 tonnes.
In 2017, air cargo represented $130 billion in international trade, making up 11.8% of Canada’s international trade. On a value basis, trade is mostly balanced in Canada, with exports accounting for 45% of the total value of trade. However, Canada tends to be a net importer on the United States, Asia and Latin America trade lanes, whereas it is a net exporter to Europe. Air cargo that is exported from Canada to the United States accounts for 30% of Canada’s air exports. This indicates that Canadian air cargo exports are a much more diversified marketplace than Canada’s overall trade picture, where the United States is the destination for 75.8% of Canada’s exports.
Gold, aircraft parts and pharmaceuticals are some of the most important commodities transported as international air freight. Seafood, especially live lobsters, was a key export commodity worth about $400 million in Atlantic Canada alone. It was the top exported commodity for that region.
Although air cargo plays an important role in the Canadian economy, it is especially vital in the North. The territories, Labrador and Nunavik cover an area greater than 4.5 million km2 and have a population of about 160,000 inhabitants. Because aviation is the only year-round mode of transportation for many of these communities, the value of air cargo can be expressed not in terms of tonnage or dollars, but in terms of the lifeline that it provides to these communities: food, clothing and other material needs when no alternative exists.
In conclusion, the value of air cargo can be measured in a number of ways, whether it is how it supports Canada’s mining, aerospace, pharmaceutical and agri-food sectors, or whether it is how it ensures that northern and remote communities have access to the food, medicine and goods they need. In either case, it is clear that air cargo plays an important role in the economy and is a key component of Canada’s transportation system.
For more information, please contact Statistics Canada (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; STATCAN.infostats-infostats.STATCAN@canada.ca).