An aircraft fuselage shell is fabricated of a double-walled composite structural component, including a core element bonded and sandwiched between an inner cover layer and an outer cover layer. The inner cover layer forms the main load bearing fuselage inner skin, and the outer cover layer forms the fuselage outer skin which carries a smaller proportion of the loads. The core element may consist of fiber-reinforced composite material while the cover layers may consist of an aluminum alloy, another metal, or fiber-reinforced composite material. The core element is air permeable and has air flow channels extending longitudinally therethrough in at least one direction. The cover layers do not seal or enclose the core element, so the core element is ventilatable. A ventilating airflow carries moisture as water vapor out of the core element, and then the moisture is condensed and removed by a moisture management unit.