When it comes to sending goods, there are different alternatives, each with its advantages and disadvantages. In the case of air transport, the main benefits focus on the service’s speed and delivery reliability, while the main drawback is its high cost.
In this post, MyXBorder team, a specialist in delivery from myntra to Singapore, will discuss all characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages related to AIR Freight.
What is air freight transport?
Air cargo transport consists of the use of the airplane as a means of transporting goods between different locations. The planes are the fastest means of transport and, therefore, the most appropriate for sending products within the supply chain that require quick and agile delivery.
Air freight transport is used in one way or another in most industrial sectors and distribution chains. It is estimated that the trend in using this means of freight transport will continue to rise, and more flights will be used exclusively for freight transport.
What are the advantages of air transport?
The plane is much faster than a car, truck, train, or ship, so it is the ideal transport system to transport merchandise in the shortest possible time. In addition to its speed, air freight transport also has other advantages, including:
– Access to far locations
When products or merchandise are sent to remote or distant places, other means of transport are inefficient, either because of the time they must invest or because they cannot be accessed. However, air transport has no limitations to reach any place on the planet, doing it in a very short time.
The air transport of goods allows connecting areas that are not easily accessible by sea or road for the shipment and reception of goods. This type of transport has a wide coverage network that allows goods to be sent practically anywhere in the world.
An example of how far air transport can go and that other types of freight transport do not have access can be found in areas of Central Africa.
– Reliability in shipments
Given its characteristics, transporting goods by plane has an almost negligible percentage of cargo losses or breakages. It is a reliable transport method where the merchandise reaches its destination in perfect conditions with almost total security.
The plane is the safest means of transport that exists, demonstrated by the accident statistics, being the one with the lowest rate of accidents. For this reason, freight insurance premiums in air transport are usually lower than on land or sea, with a much higher rate of claims.
– Shorter delivery times
The most important benefit of air freight transport is the reduction of delivery times. In international trade, transporting goods by plane has allowed the shipment and reception of goods quickly between countries. Maritime shipping times, counted in days or weeks, have been counted in hours when shipping by air freight.
The plane has become the preferential option for shipping food when perishable materials where urgent transport is essential.
– No physical barriers
The plane hardly encounters physical barriers that prevent its flight, as with land or sea transport. Even the weather conditions have to be extreme to prevent planes from leaving or reaching their destination.
It can be said that the air transport of goods suffers almost no interruptions in its service, which makes it fascinating for international trade.
What are the drawbacks of air travel?
Although the benefits of air transport make it the ideal way to ship any type of goods, the various disadvantages of this type of transport mean that it is not the most widely used in the supply chain.
The main drawbacks of air freight transport are:
– Higher cost
The main disadvantage of air freight transport is its high cost, which depends on factors such as cargo space or the high cost of fuel (the cost of crude oil is extremely volatile).
If we compare air transport prices with maritime transport, we can see a notable reduction in the shipment of merchandise by ship.
That is why the ship continues to be the main means of transporting shipments internationally, despite taking much longer than air transport and having a greater risk of loss or breakage of merchandise.
Air transport is not suitable for cheap goods or shipping large volumes, as its cargo capacity is very limited and it has a high cost. However, it is ideal for perishable items or goods with a high economic value.
– Bureaucratic procedures
Although the procedures for transport by plane are not usually complicated, the bureaucracy surrounding it can negatively interfere with shipments.
Almost all bureaucratic problems come concerning the laws of each country, as well as the different agreements and trade treaties between countries and regions.
Although the flight time allows goods to be sent abroad on the same day, bureaucratic complications often arise that can extend the delivery for several more days.
Procedures at airports in terms of logistics and customs are much more agile than in maritime transport. This agility is hampered by the innumerable bureaucratic procedures required to enter goods, depending on the destination country.
– Legal impediments
Although there are flights between two countries, it is not always possible to send merchandise between them, since in each country, there is different legislation that can limit the entry of some types of merchandise (for protection of the national industry or sanitary measures, for example).
– Technical limitations
The size of the planes means that this type of transport cannot send many types of merchandise or packages.
The dimensions of the warehouses and the access doors limit the size of the goods, something that does not happen in maritime and even inland transport.
There are more and more special cargo planes that have more storage space, but they are still not enough to compete with other means of transporting goods.
Conclusion
Air transport means that goods can be transported anywhere in the world quickly and reliably. Unlike sea or road transport, the air transport service does not have barriers; if they do, they are found in extreme weather conditions or trade agreements between countries.
For those businesses that sell valuable or perishable products in the international market, air transport is the best option to transport your merchandise in the shortest possible time.
