BOEING, the world's biggest air freighter manufacturer, is headed towards its fewest cargo jet orders since the 2009 recession as demand wanes for the overnight shipments that once drove purchases.

With 13 sales through July, Boeing's tally was just one-fifth the total of six years earlier. Airbus SAS, which didn't begin shipping freighters until 2010, has no orders this year, and the market for secondhand passenger aircraft being converted to fly cargo has dried up, according to Bloomberg.

Air freight operators are deferring acquisitions and parking older planes after worldwide shipment volumes were unchanged in this year's first six months, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). A lingering order drought may threaten the US$240 billion in industry-wide freighter sales that Chicago-based Boeing predicts over the next 20 years.

The global air cargo fleet is six per cent smaller than a year ago and has shrunk almost 14 per cent from a pre-recession peak, according to Air Cargo Management Group, a Seattle-based consultancy. Freight haulers such as FedEx Corp have scrapped flights to Asia, parked planes and now ship cargo in the bellies of wide-body passenger jets.

Boeing describes the slump as an anomaly in a business that it projects will increase five per cent annually through 2032 as world economic growth recovers and cargo airlines swap older jets for fuel-sipping models. The company expects industry-wide sales of 850 new freighters over the next two decades while 1,450 passenger aircraft will be converted to haul cargo.

"It's our belief and our analysis that once trade turns around, we'll see growth again in the cargo market," Boeing's vice president for marketing, Randy Tinseth, said. "We don't think it's a question of if, it's a question of when."

For now, demand remains weak as Boeing and Airbus deliver freighters ordered before the market slumped on Europe's debt crisis and lower sales of Chinese-made electronics, said Air Cargo Management managing director Robert Dahl. He expects air cargo traffic to eventually rebound, growing by three to four per cent.

Airbus, based in Toulouse, France, didn't receive any orders for the A330-200 freighter, its only model, from January through the end of July. The plane has 44 orders against 23 deliveries. "This is not a surprise given the current state of the air freight market," said Airbus spokesman Martin Fendt.