Air vs freight forum 352

Airfreight versus Seafreight Airfreight versus Sea freight Many aspects affect the decision of moving goods via air or sea. First and foremost is the cost. Airfreight costs relatively higher than ocean but it also offers time-saving. The nature of products also determines the choice between air and sea routes. A company that makes huge construction machines would find it difficult to ship them via air because of their sheer weight. Another factor is the capacity of the vessel. Say a company needs to transport a batch of vehicles to another country it would be almost impossible to ship them all at once in an airplane therefore it is better to wait for the shipment to arrive via the ocean. Airfreight carries relatively less weight (Luger, 2008). Reliability also plays a vital role in this comparison. Despite having a short history, Airfreight wins this battle of reliability comfortably. Weather conditions delay flights but airfreight companies are usually more responsible and efficient in handling the situation and making up for the delays. On the other hand the shipping companies also get off-track due to weather and storms but shipping companies are not very good at making up for the delay. The route can also play a deciding factor in making this decision and a combination of both air and sea fright might be the best choice. For instance a shipment from Hong Kong to Sharjah and from Sharjah to Frankfurt is divided into two parts; Hong Kong to Sharjah is done by sea and from Sharjah to Frankfurt by air, this way the transportation costs are reduced by 50% when going from ocean freight and the time is cut by 75% compared to only using an ocean freight (Branch, 2007). The environmental impact should also be considered before choosing the route. The carbon fingerprint of Airfreight is much higher than oceanfreight (Bretzke & Barkawi, 2012). Considering this factor it becomes relatively easier to decide that it is not always about the cost because the damage to the environment is almost irreversible.
References
Branch, A. E. (2007) Elements of shipping. Oxon: Routledge.
Bretzke, W. R. & Barkawi, K. (2012) Sustainable logistics: Responses to a global challenge. Munich: Springer.
Luger, K. (2008) Chinese railways: Reform and efficiency improvement. Springer.