Freighter Aircraft
A Freighter is an aircraft configured to carry cargo only, with no passengers — either purpose-built as a factory freighter or converted from a passenger aircraft (a "P2F" conversion). Freighters have a main-deck cargo door and reinforced floor to load pallets and containers into the main cabin, giving far more capacity than the belly holds of passenger aircraft.
Freighters carry the cargo that belly space cannot — large, heavy, urgent or outsized shipments, and volumes on dedicated cargo routes and express networks (integrators like the major parcel carriers run large freighter fleets). They provide reliable, schedulable capacity independent of passenger demand, which proved critical when passenger flights (and their belly capacity) were grounded. Air freight moves as a mix of belly cargo and freighter capacity, and understanding the two is key to how air-cargo capacity and pricing work.
Freighters give air cargo dedicated, schedulable capacity that doesn't depend on passenger flights — and take the big, heavy, urgent loads belly space can't. The belly-versus-freighter balance drives air-cargo capacity and rates, as the pandemic starkly showed when belly capacity vanished. It is fundamental to how air freight is supplied.
What is the difference between belly cargo and a freighter?
Belly cargo travels in the holds of passenger aircraft; a freighter is a cargo-only aircraft with a main-deck door and far greater capacity.
What is a P2F conversion?
A passenger-to-freighter conversion — turning a retired passenger aircraft into a cargo freighter.