Air or sea transport? Which should you go for?

We have a variety of different shipping options to choose from. Land transportation is either by car or rail, or inland navigation, which accounts merely for 1% of all cargo shipped. To cross a sea or an ocean, a ship or an airplane is the only way to go. How to pick the best means of transport for your product? Each option comes with some pros and cons.

Air transport:

Anybody who has ever travelled by plane knows the advantages of this means of travel. The travel speed of a plane is a huge advantage. You can cover thousands of miles and switch continents in just a couple of hours. This is one of the most advanced and dynamically growing means of transport. In 2016, the growth in cargo shipped by planes grew 10% over the previous year. However, this means of transport has not dominated the intercontinental shipping industry for good because it is quite costly.

When should you ship your products by air? Any expensive and short-expiry-date products should definitely be shipped this way. Air transport is less costly only for small packages due to the minimum amounts in sea freight (1 cbm/1 ton). Even if you want to dispatch a small shipment, it will still be charged based on the minimum size/weight.

When should you ship by sea?

We already know that sea transportation is more cost-effective for bulky and heavy cargo. You can use sea transport to ship cargo regardless of its type, size or special refrigeration requirements, as opposed to air transport. The more goods you want to transport, the lower the price per kg. It varies from port to port and official fees, which are frequently charged per a waybill rather than quantity.

To sum it up, if you have a small parcel and are pressed for time, ship your products by air. If your parcel is bigger than 1 m³ or 1 ton in weight, then it might be more beneficial to go for the sea option, especially if the recipient is based close to a seaport.