Western Europe: Tonnage in the Sky

Half of France’s textile exports to the U.S. now cross the Atlantic by air. Gallic perfumers, who sniffed at the idea only two years ago, are now shipping their delicate fragrances in planes at the rate of 660 tons a year. The Greeks send their furs aloft to customers in Germany, Holland and Scandinavia, fresh seafood to Italy and France. Swissair will fly 4,400,000 Swiss watches to markets abroad this year, along with planeloads of precision machinery, optical instruments and Pharmaceuticals. Despite their reputation for conservatism, European businessmen this year have turned to air freight in such numbers that the volume surprises even some of the airlines.

Lower Bills. Outstripping gains in passenger traffic, the air-freight business has risen 20% this year for Air France, Sabena and the Scandinavian Airlines System, 22% for Swissair, 24% for British European Airways and 25% for BOAC. Two of the U.S.’s Europe-serving carriers are doing even better. Pan American, the world’s largest air line freight operation (13 jet freighters, 12 more on order), reported last week that its cargo volume will rise 54% this year to a record, and TWA’s foreign cargoes are up 63%. When it comes to revenues, freight now brings European airlines from 7% of their total (for short-hauling BEA) to 18% (for Greece’s Olympic).

Though air freight costs more than rail or water shipments, it often cuts the total distribution bill for manufacturers. Reasons: cheaper insurance, lighter crating, less pilferage, fewer warehouse and rehandling charges and—most crucial of all—faster delivery, which shrinks costly inventories along the distribution pipelines. Lufthansa, for instance, recently shipped eight boxes of phone gear from Nuremberg to Manhattan for $400 in 36 hours v. 15 days and $720 by surface transport. Last month Minneapolis-based Honeywell decided to send all of its control equipment to Europe by air next year, expects to save $163,000. There can also be sales dividends. When BOAC delivered ten multilith printing machines from London to Lagos within 53 hours of their sale, the Nigerian government printing office was so impressed that it immediately ordered 15 more.

No Giraffes. Swelling volume and efficient jets have transformed air cargo into a heady source of airline profits. Newer equipment and ground facilities promise further gains. Lufthansa has ordered nine Boeing short-haul 727 jets to carry passengers by day, then convert in 20 minutes to nocturnal freight ships. Last week Alitalia ordered 28 DC-9 twinjets, partly to meet its rising freight needs. BOAC has just opened a pushbutton freight terminal at New-York’s Kennedy Airport, and a 160-acre “freight city” is about to rise at London Airport.

Though air freight, for all its exuberant growth, still amounts to only 1% of the goods shipped across the Atlantic, it is rapidly becoming an attractive vehicle for all kinds of cargo. Air France has carried 44 race horses to the U.S. and back in the last five weeks. Alitalia installed a special cage inside a DC-8 to airlift a baby rhinoceros from Africa to the Naples zoo. Lufthansa has shipped everything from elephants to nuclear fuel elements, but giraffes are out: too much turbulent air aloft can cause their long and slender necks to snap.