Are you looking at international freight shipping options to transport goods to different countries for your business? Whether you are importing or exporting, sea freight and air freight provide different means to get your goods where you need them to be, and choosing the right option through a specialist freight forwarder will help your business to stay effective, maintain high security levels for the items in transit, and in the most cost-effective way possible.

What are air freight services?

Our air freight services take goods and cargo and transport them by plane. It is much faster than ocean freight, making it the best option for those businesses requiring a fast transit of goods, and with different types of cargo planes there is scope for large items and goods to be sent between countries.

Pros and cons of air freight:

Pros

  • Fast delivery – air freight is much faster than sea freight, delivering goods in hours rather than days and weeks.
  • High security levels – cargo travelling by plan goes through a thorough security process compared with sea freight.
  • Remote destinations – air freight can reach remote destinations that even ships struggle with or would take too long to reach.

Cons

  • High operational costs – air freight is costlier than sea freight due to the speed and the fact cost is calculated by weight.
  • Strict restrictions – it is harder to transport hazardous materials through air freight, with stricter limitations compared with sea freight.
  • Higher environmental impact – air travel is responsible for high levels of CO2 emissions, hindering ‘green’ companies.

Cost of air freight

Compared with sea travel, sending goods via planes is more expensive. This is due to the speed with which you can expect your goods to arrive at the destination and the fact cost is decided by weight of cargo. If you are not in a rush, sea freight is a more cost-effective option.

Speed of air freight

The speed is unmatched, with your goods arriving at the destination within hours or days compared with weeks or months when sent by sea freight services. For fast delivery, air freight is the right choice for your business.

Capacity of air freight

For business with much larger volumes of goods or large single items, sea freight offers a much greater capacity than air freight services. The global capacity of container ships is around triple that of air cargo.

Environmental impact of air freight

Sending cargo via plane is much worse for the environment than sending goods by boat. This is due to the high emissions that air travel produces, and it makes it difficult for businesses that are focused on sustainability.

Reliability of air freight

Aviation routes are much less likely to suffer from delays due to weather events and other issues compared with ships. This makes it a more reliable option for exact delivery dates.

Security of air freight

Air freight services go through thorough security checks when loading and unloading goods, as well as having fewer manual handling instances compared to goods travelling by sea, making it more secure.

What are sea freight services?

As an ocean freight forwarder, we provide sea freight services that enable our clients to transport goods by large container ships to other countries via the ocean. It offers large capacity and a proven way to transport goods at a cost-effective rate when compared with air freight.

Pros and cons of sea freight

Pros

  • Cost-effective – sea freight is a cost-effective way to transport goods overseas, especially for large volumes of items.
  • Send oversized, odd-shaped cargo – not all goods are designed the same, and ocean freight allows more scope to send large or irregularly shaped goods.
  • Hazardous materials – there are fewer restrictions to transporting hazardous materials via sea freight.
  • Environmentally-friendly – sea freight services generate lower CO2 emissions compared to air freight.

Cons

  • Slower pace – sea freight takes longer to travel and can take weeks or even months to reach the destination.
  • Higher chance of delays – there are higher chances of suffering delays due to weather, port congestion, and customs clearance via sea freight.
  • Less reliability – due to the concerns above, it is less reliable than cargo sent by air.

Cost of sea freight

The cost of sea freight is much cheaper, as the cost is worked out by container rather than weight. This makes it much more attractive for larger consignments of goods transported over long distances.

Speed of sea freight

Ocean freight services take longer than cargo transported in the air. Depending on the distances it can take weeks or even months, rather than hours or days.

Capacity of sea freight

The ability of sea freight to take on a larger volume of goods makes it a good option for businesses with large items or huge quantities of goods to import or export abroad.

Environmental impact of sea freight

Sea freight is much friendlier to the environment than air freight. This is due to the lower emissions that are produced by ships compared to planes. For an environmentally-conscious business, sea freight is the better option.

Reliability of sea freight

Due to the potential weather problems, customs clearance challenges and chokepoints of marine travel routes around the globe, ocean freight is not as reliable as air freight.

Security of sea freight

Air freight is safer from theft and damage than ocean freight, due to the closer monitoring of goods and fewer instances of manual handling. However, a full container load shipping service also has lower risk when compared with small parcels and packages.

Factors to consider when choosing air freight vs sea freight

There are a few factors to consider when choosing between the two choices of transporting your goods. It is important to understand the current trends for both. Maritime trade grew by 2.4% in 2023, but with such precarious growth and recovery, there are chokepoint vulnerabilities in ocean freight routes that are vulnerable to a variety of factors, such as geopolitical tensions and climate change. Similarly, air freight continues to increase in numbers over the last few years, but with environmental concerns relating to air travel it will be interesting to see if this continues at the current pace in the coming decades.

Other factors that help you decide include:

Your budget

Generally, air freight is more expensive than sending goods via sea freight. Costs are based on weight, distances, and quantities of goods that are to be transported, so each individual consignment will have a unique cost. Insurance costs can also be cheaper for air freight than ocean freight.

The schedule

Express air freight shipping will take the least amount of time door-to-door, whereas air freight can take a little bit longer and sea freight even longer again. Ocean freight is also more likely to be caught in delays along the way.

Security and safety of goods

It is generally safer for goods to be stored on planes than ships in terms of keeping cargo safe from damage, although we’ll make sure there is a thorough ocean container plan that keeps your products secure as part of a sea freight service. You must consider hazardous materials that you are transporting which may need to be sent via sea rather than air for safety reasons or on multiple flights.

Environmental concerns

Ocean freight has a significantly lower impact on CO2 emissions than air freight, so if you are concerned with the carbon footprint of your operation, always send your goods via the sea.

What’s the best for my business?

Finding the best international freight shipping options for your business is vital for a business with overseas suppliers and customers. Our specialist team at Emerald Freight is here to help you find the best option for your specific needs. No matter the size of your consignment or the type of goods you wish to send via ocean freight or air freight, we’ll put together a plan of action that gets your goods from door-to-door, safely, within the fastest timeframe possible without compromising security and the necessary customs paperwork, all within your specific budget. Connect with a freight expert today and we’ll get your goods delivered to any location around the world utilising our network of global partners.