Table of Contents
Advantages of Moving Cargo by Airlines
Let us see the advantages first:
- Speed: when goods need to move quickly, air freight, being the fastest shipping method, is the best solution.
- Customer service: being able to deliver products faster enables exporters to serve customers better. This translates into happy customers, leading to repeat business.
- Stock reduction: delivering faster also means customers have less stock in transit and reduced inventories, leading to improved financial performance.
- Reliability: air transport provides reliable departure and arrival times.
- Financing: delivering to customers faster usually translates into faster payments, thus improving the financing costs of doing business overseas.
- Convenience: due to the large network of destinations covered, one can send cargo by air to almost anywhere in the world.
- Handling: having generally less-rough handling than ocean freight and faster transit times reduces the risks of cargo damage.
- Packaging: since the cargo will be subject to less-rough handling and faster transit, it needs less packaging, meaning savings on packaging costs.
- Security: the high level of security provided by airports reduces the risks of theft.
- Visibility: being able to track and trace cargo reliably and 24/7 leads to improved visibility, reduction of bottlenecks and improved customer service.
Disadvantages of Moving Cargo by Airlines
- Cost: air freight is much more expensive than other modes of transport.
- Payment security mechanism: one cannot hold on to original shipping documents in order to get paid before the goods are released to the consignee.
- Limited quantities: due to the inherent limited space and capacity of aircraft, one can ship only small or reasonable quantities, particularly on passenger flights.
- Lack of cargo flights: for larger shipments, there are not many cargo flights out there.
