Light turboprop
up to ~1.5 t
small volume, cabin-loaded · Urgent parts, medical, small AOG missions
PC-12Cessna Caravan
Regional and last-tactical missions where a jet freighter is not available or not economic.
Network
Cargo aircraft: types, classes and payload
A cargo aircraft is a freight plane built or converted to carry goods instead of passengers. This page sets out the classes in use today, from small cargo planes of one tonne to the outsize ramp loaders above one hundred, what payload and door size each class really offers, and how a converted airframe differs from a factory freighter. Cargo Charter Network sources this capacity worldwide; the selection per mission follows payload, dimensions, route, permits and operator acceptance.
Turboprop freighter
~3–8 t
small pallet or bulk · Regional cargo, short runways
ATR 42/72FMetrolinerSaab
Regional lanes, secondary airports and short-runway operations.
Narrow-body freighter
~20–30 t
AKH / PMC lower deck plus main deck · Regional and short/medium haul
B737FA321F
High-frequency, cost-efficient short-haul cargo.
Extended narrow-body / mid-size
~35–50 t
main-deck pallets · Transcontinental and trans-med
B757FA300FB767F
Mid-size main-deck capacity, wide operator base.
Wide-body freighter
~60–100 t
main-deck plus lower deck · Long-haul cargo, ACMI backbone
A330FMD-11FB747FB777F
Long-range main-deck capacity for structured programmes.
Outsize / ramp-loaded
up to 100+ t, outsize capability
outsize, ramp-loaded · Project and outsize cargo
IL-76An-124An-12Specialist freighters
Nose-load or rear-ramp access for over-dimensional and heavy units.
All figures are indicative. Every mission is subject to availability, route, payload, permits and operator acceptance.
Fundamentals
What a cargo aircraft is
A cargo aircraft — commonly called a freighter or a freight plane — carries goods in a hold designed for load, not for people. The cabin windows are usually plugged, the floor is reinforced and fitted with roller beds and locks, and at least one large loading door replaces the passenger doors. Everything else that distinguishes a freighter follows from those three changes.
Two families exist. Factory freighters leave the production line in cargo configuration. Converted freighters begin life as passenger aircraft and are rebuilt after ten to twenty-five years in service. Both fly the same commercial missions; the difference shows up in payload, in the exact door aperture and in how many airframes are available at short notice.
BCF, BDSF and P2F: what a conversion changes
A passenger-to-freighter conversion cuts a main-deck cargo door into the fuselage, removes seats, galleys and lavatories, plugs the windows, installs a 9g rigid barrier behind the cockpit and replaces the cabin floor with a cargo loading system. The programme labels describe who certified the work: BCF is a Boeing Converted Freighter, BDSF is a Bedek Special Freighter from IAI, and P2F is the generic passenger-to-freighter term used across Airbus and other programmes.
Against a factory freighter of the same type, a converted airframe typically carries a few tonnes less structural payload and has a slightly smaller usable door aperture, because the reinforcement rings around the cut door take space. In exchange it is cheaper per block hour and far more numerous. For a pallet-based load, the difference rarely matters. For a single tall piece measured to the centimetre, ask which variant is on offer before the price is compared.
Main deck versus lower deck
The main deck is the former passenger cabin. It takes 96 × 125 inch pallets stacked to roughly three metres on a wide-body, and it is the only place an outsize or heavy piece can go. The lower deck sits beneath the floor and holds the same containers a passenger aircraft carries in its belly — smaller in height, usually limited to around 160 centimetres, and reached through a narrower door.
This split decides which aircraft your shipment can use at all. Belly capacity on a scheduled passenger flight is lower-deck only, which is why anything above that height must move on a freighter main deck, whether by charter or on a scheduled cargo service. It is also why main-deck door width, not aircraft size, is the first number we check on an outsize enquiry.
Small cargo planes
Below the jet freighters sits a class that rarely appears in fleet brochures but does a great deal of work: single-engine turboprops such as the Cessna Caravan and the PC-12 at roughly one to one and a half tonnes, and twin turboprops such as the Metroliner, the Saab 340 and the ATR 42 and 72 between three and nine tonnes. They load through modest doors, take short and unpaved runways, and reach airfields no jet can use.
Small cargo planes earn their place on three jobs. They fly a grounded aircraft's spare part to a regional airfield hours before a jet could be positioned. They serve island, offshore and mining destinations where the runway decides the aircraft. And they carry consignments of one to eight tonnes on lanes where a 20-tonne narrow-body freighter would fly two thirds empty at a much higher hourly rate. On short sectors the smaller aircraft is frequently not just the available answer but the cheaper one.
Choosing between classes
Work from the constraint, not from the aircraft name. Measure the largest piece, weigh the total, name the two airports, then eliminate: door aperture removes most candidates, runway length and pavement strength remove more, range with the required payload removes the rest. What survives is usually a shortlist of two or three types, and only then does price separate them.
The type library on this site gives the payload, door dimensions and typical charter use for each aircraft we source most often. Use it to sanity-check a shortlist before you commit to a routing.
Selection criteria
Payload is rarely the first constraint — door, floor and runway are.
Door aperture
Height and width of the loading opening rule types out before weight is discussed. Nose or ramp loaders solve what will not go through a side door.
Floor loading
Point and running loads decide spreader plates and roll paths. A dense, compact piece is often harder than a light outsize one.
Runway and handling
Runway length, pavement strength (PCN), de-icing, nose-loader equipment and slots define which airport pairs are realistic.
Range and tech stops
Payload-range behaviour decides whether a sector flies nonstop, with a fuel stop, or only at reduced load.
Type library
Every relevant freighter type in detail.
Payload, range, door dimensions and typical missions — one dedicated page per type with planning figures and FAQs.
Keep reading
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