Cost Benefit Analysis Unmanned Cargo Aircraft

Air cargo roughly accounts for one percent of world trade calculated by tonnage, though it represents about 35 percent of the world trade calculated by value of the goods that are shipped (Boeing, World Air Cargo Forecast 2014-2015, 2014). That is not a surprise since the cargo transported by aircraft generally consists of high-value goods that need to enter their market as fast as possible (The World Bank, 2009). Hence air cargo is an expensive mode of transport, yet in a globalised world in which more and more goods need to be delivered just in time, the role of air transport is increasingly important (Zhang A. , 2003); (Boeing, World Air Cargo Forecast 2014-2015, 2014). Currently air cargo travels either by full freighter, combi aircraft, or in the belly of passenger jets, meaning that in order for air cargo services to be profitable either high volumes of cargo need to be imported and/or exported by a particular region around an airport or passengers have to be interested in visiting that same region. One way to connect regions lacking these characteristics to the global world and create a better competitive position for them, could be a more cost efficient mode of transport, one that still needs to be developed. Unmanned cargo aircraft (UCA), also named Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), may perhaps represent a mode of transport that makes cheaper and more efficient air cargo transport possible for regions that are currently not connected to the global world by a direct connection