Boeing 747 first officer. Eva Claire Marseille flies cargo around the globe from her base in Hong Kong and takes her 166,000 Instagram followers with her. Louise Rose Jones learns how Eva achieved her dream of flying the Queen of the Skies and discovers the quirks of carrying cargo.
From vaccines to vehicles, cats to cars, more than US$6 trillion worth of goods are transported by air each year. In real terms, this accounts for approximately 35% of all world trade by value according to trade body IATA. Of course, aircraft have carried cargo since the dawn of manned flight. On November 7, 1910, the first freight rotation took to the skies between Dayton and Columbus, Ohio, when Philip Orin Parmelee flew a Wright Model B loaded with 200lb (90kg) of silk. Fast-forward 110 years and the demand for air cargo has taken on a more high-profile sense of urgency as the world grapples with the devastating COVID-19 pandemic.
