Airfreight Vs. Sea freight | 2022 Guide

Transportation in international and trans-regional trade has been one of the most obvious and important issues that have always been of interest to people working in this field.  Deciding which type of air freight or sea freight to choose to transport your company’s goods is a challenging and important one.  Airfreight and sea freight are two of the most famous and popular ways and means of moving and transporting goods across different continents and countries.

Many differences between sea freight and air freight distinguish the two. This article intends to examine each of these cases and become thoroughly acquainted with sea freight and air freight. In the end, we compare the advantages and disadvantages of each of them and compare them with each other to make it easier for you to decide.

If you want to know which shipping method best suits your needs, stay with us until the end of this article; if you still have further questions, contact our team so they can help you choose the best method.

Sea freight

If you’re in the business of commodity trading, you’ve probably used sea freight several times.  sea freight is used to transport goods that have a very high volume and quantity, and therefore the purpose of sending them is to deliver a large volume of goods to the destination.

Several thousand tons of commercial goods are usually shipped to other continents by cargo ships around the globe. sea transportation is carried out using cargo ships and cranes located in the port.  sea freight has been used by many people for many years to transport economic goods. This service has its own advantages and disadvantages we will go through them so you can pick the method that best suits your needs.

If you have any questions, you can contact ERA sales experts to guide you, they will consult you on the best method that suits your needs and help you with any questions you have.

Airfreight

Airfreight in the modern and advanced era has become one of the methods of transporting goods, which delivers commercial and freight equipment and supplies to the destination with the highest speed and in the shortest route.  The amount of damage to commercial goods in Airfreight is very small and insignificant.

Airfreight allows cargo and equipment to reach their destination faster.  However, air freight is one of the most expensive types of transportation in the world. It is performed by cargo planes and their main task is to move customs goods from the origin to the designated destination.  Sensitive, fragile, and expensive goods, which are not very large, are usually transported by cargo planes.

Like Seafreight, this method has its own advantages and disadvantages which we need to take into consideration when we want to import our goods, we will talk about them later in this article; depending on the size of your shipment, its nature, your budget and the transit time needed, you can choose the method that suits your needs.

If you have any questions, you can contact ERA sales experts to guide you, they will consult you on the best method that suits your needs and give you your free quote.

Sea Freight Vs. Airfreight, Which one to choose?

Sea freight and Airfreight have their own advantages and disadvantages, and you can choose a more appropriate and cost-effective option by reviewing and researching each one.  It is usually possible to determine the type of transportation of its products by considering the working and business conditions of each company.

One of the advantages that can be mentioned in air freight is the high speed of sending cargo to the destination.  Airfreight is often faster and safer than sea transportation.  Airfreight is sent in the shortest possible time.  But sea transportation may take months to reach their destination.

Airfreight eventually reaches the destination in two days, while ships used in sea freight are constantly traveling and therefore arrive at their destination later.  In terms of speed, air transport works better than sea transport.

It should be noted that in ERA we also offer Air and Sea DDP service which will make the process twice easier and more convenient, get your free quote now ;).

The next issue is the cost of sea and air transportation. sea transportation costs less.  In fact, the type of air freight calculation is obtained through the weight of cargo.  In sea transportation, the weight of the cargo is usually not very important, in sea transportation, the equipment is placed inside the containers for transportation.  Each container includes a fixed price and a fixed and predetermined price.

Seafreight is an answer to all, It can be used to ship small goods (usually group them together to lower the risk of getting lost) or big, bulky goods that cannot be moved by airfreight even if one is willing to pay the high price. and on top of that, it can be used for hazardous and DGR goods that are not possible to be shipped by air.

Needless to say, Sea freight is much more environmentally friendly than air freight, they used the most carbon-efficient mode, whereas airfreight has higher carbon footprints.

Airfreight Advantages

• High Speed/Low transit time
• Safer route
• Less damage to shipments
• Bigger network

Airfreight Disadvantages

• High cost
• high carbon footprint
• not suitable for oversized goods
• not suitable for DGR goods

Sea freight Advantages

• More cost-effective
• No limit in shipment size
• suitable for DGR and hazardous goods
• Environment friendly

Sea freight Disadvantages

• Long transit time/ Slowest method
• more dependant on weather conditions
• Higher Risk of damage and theft
• Smaller network (only countries connected by the sea)

Conclusion

in the article, we compared airfreight and sea freight and explained the advantages and disadvantages of each.  Ultimately, it will be up to you to decide which shipping to choose to move your goods and shipments and make the final assessment of when and how fast you want your goods to arrive also, how much is your budget and how much do you plan to spend on it.

If your shipments are very sensitive and fragile and you want to deliver them to the destination in a very short time, you can send them by the airline, but if you want to save on shipping costs and a long time to send shipments You have the option that is more convenient for you through cargo ships in the ocean.

Needless to say, if you still felt unsure and needed our team to guide you just send us a message. we will help you through all the steps, we can provide both of these services port to port and Door-to-Door (DDP) way with affordable prices and reliable service. Get your free quote now 🙂