Air cargo is any property carried or to be carried in an aircraft. Air cargo comprises air freight, air express and airmail. Aircraft types Different cargo can be transported by passenger, cargo or combi aircraft: Passenger aircraft use the spare volume in the airplane's baggage hold (the "belly") that is not being used for passenger luggage—a common practice used by passenger airlines, who additionally transport cargo on scheduled passenger flights. Cargo can also be transported in the passenger cabin as hand-carry by an “on-board courier”. This practice can often be used to cross subsidise loss-making passenger routes that would otherwise be uneconomical to operate. A passenger aircraft can also be used as a preighter in which the entire passenger cabin is temporarily dedicated to carrying freight. Cargo aircraft are dedicated for the job—they carry freight on the main deck and in the belly by means of nose-loading or side loading. Combi aircraft carry cargo on part of the main deck, before or after a passengers’ section, with side loading, and in the belly. History Early years The first cargo flight took place on the 7 November 1910 in the US, between Dayton and Columbus, Ohio. Philip Orin Parmelee piloted a Wright Model B aeroplane 65 miles (105 km) carrying a package of 200 pounds of silk for the opening of a store. Newspaper clippings quoted the Wright brothers as stating he covered the distance in 66 minutes, but the flight was officially recorded at 57 minutes, a world speed record at the time. It was the first “cargo only” flight solely for the transport of goods; the first flight commissioned by a client, and the first example of multimodal air transport, since the pieces of silk were transported by car from Columbus aerodrome to the store. The world's first official airmail flight by airplane took place on 18 February 1911, at a large exhibition in the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, British India. The organizer of the aviation display, Walter Windham, was able to secure permission from the postmaster general in India to operate an airmail service in order to generate publicity for the exhibition and to raise money for charity. This first airmail flight was piloted by Henri Pequet, who flew 6,500 letters a distance of 13 km (8.1 mi), from Allahabad to Naini—the nearest station on the Bombay-Calcutta line to the exhibition. The aircraft used was a