What You Need to Know About Air Freight

In today’s connected world, shipping and delivering have never been more important. And for a business, it can be very difficult to choose between ground shipping and air freight. A lot of people tend to prefer the cheaper option until things go awry.
When it comes to overseas shipping, you don’t get to choose ground shipping. You then need to choose between ocean and air freight.
Air freight is an extremely reliable and safe option, especially when you are sending things all over the world. So what makes air freight such a great choice? We’re glad you asked.
Keep on reading and we will take you through everything that you need to know about air freight.
What Is Air Freight?
When you are looking to ship something, there are several options at your disposal. When it comes to air freight, there are also several options.
To put it simply, air freight is when items are transported through airplanes.
The three kinds of air freight are air charters, cargo planes, and passenger or commercial planes.
Commercial Planes
Some commercial plans carry light cargo. The plan can handle both freight that is in containers and palletized freight. These planes are also very cost-effective because they fly to several destinations in a single day.
However, because the freight is traveling with passengers, there are more restrictions on what can be shipped. Airlines will limit the weight and size of the cargo.
Cargo Planes
A cargo plane is built to carry heavier freight. These planes also don’t carry passengers so they don’t have as many restrictions.
Air Charters
Most of the time, an air charter is used in dire or emergency situations. You would get a charter plane to only take the freight where you need it to go. While a charter service costs a lot of money, it is also very efficient.
This is the fastest and most direct way to ship items. You won’t have outside interference or layovers when you use an air charter.
Speed Options
Believe it or not, you have speed options that are also at your disposal. These include deferred shipping, consolidated shipping, and next flight out.
As the name implies, the next flight out option means that your items will get put on the next flight out. This could be a charter, cargo, or passenger plane.
A consolidated shipment will go on a set schedule. This freight can be put on cargo or commercial planes. It’s usually not used for charter services.
The slowest option is deferred shipping. This means that your items are going to go on a plane when space is available. This is for shipments that aren’t urgent.
Benefits of Air Freight
Air freight comes with a lot of advantages over ground shipping and ocean freight. Let’s go over some of those benefits below.
Fastest Means of Shipping
Air freight is almost always the fastest way to ship items, as long as there are not extreme weather conditions. Even if you went with deferred shipping, your items will still likely arrive before the delivery truck does.
When it comes to air freight, you will get the opportunity to receive your cargo where it needs to be, and that includes same-day service. For urgent deliveries, you won’t need to wait around for days and hope that the delivery truck will arrive soon.
Accurate
Air freight isn’t just quick, it is also very accurate. A flight will leave and arrive at a set time and it will follow schedules very precisely. Flights don’t stop for gas or traffic.
Because of this, it is convenient and easy to check on where your shipment is. There are less chances of error because you are now dealing with hours, not days.
Safer and More Secure
Air freight is a lot more secure and safe than any other shipping option out there. The goods are managed closely and heavily scrutinized by airport staff.
Unless there is extreme weather, air freight travel is smoother than sea or truck transportation. This means that your cargo is less likely to get damaged.
Cargo Can Go Almost Anywhere
There are several thousand commercial airports all over the globe. This far outnumbers the number of active ports in the world. So shipping by air freight forwarders will be much faster than shipping by sea.
Some remote places can take days to reach. If that point is not close to a port, it can take a lot longer. This increases the chances of something wrong happening.
Saves Money in the Long Run
Air freight tends to be more expensive upfront. But downtime can also end up costing a company hundreds of thousands of dollars. Using air freight can help you get critical goods that your company needs to operate smoothly.
Plus, air freight tends to use lighter packaging which will lower your packing costs.
There is also less overhead when you use air freight.
The Importance of Knowing About Air Freight
Hopefully, after reading the above article, you now have a better idea of what air freight is and what its advantages are. As we can see, you should definitely consider using air freight for your next shipment. This way, you can save on time and money.
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