Boeing 747 Freighter

The 747 freighter was the first widebody cargo jet, and its hinged nose door let airlines load long pallets and containers straight through the front of the plane. That capacity made long-haul air freight practical for heavier and bulkier goods, not just mail and urgent documents, and helped build the air cargo network that carries electronics, fashion and e-commerce parcels today. Boeing delivered 73 of the 747-200 freighters between 1972 and 1991, and later freighter versions kept the type in production for five decades. When a brand pays for air freight from Asia, the price reflects capacity on freighters like these as well as belly space on passenger flights.

• Dimensional WeightDIM weightBillable weight based on package size
• PalletFlat platform for stacking goods
• Lithium Battery ShippingShipping batteries under dangerous goods rules

• First Air Cargo Flight1910 · A Wright plane flies silk from Dayton to Columbus
• Berlin Airlift1948–1949 · Planes supply West Berlin during the Soviet blockade
• The Hump Airlift1942–1945 · Allied planes fly supplies over the Himalayas to China

1. Fifty Years of Freighters (Boeing) boeing.com
2. The Loadstar theloadstar.com