About AirFreight

About AirFreight

Shippers choose air freight as their transportation method for a couple of key reasons.

These include:

  • Speed: Air freight is usually the fastest way to get goods to their destination.
  • Reliability: Despite occasional weather delays, air freight has the lowest possibility of impediment.

There are two types of airfreight:

  • All-Cargo Carriers: As the name connotes, these carriers move air cargo and offer freight services, but do not offer passenger services. All-cargo carriers have less weight and dimension limitations due to the wide-body and containerized cargo aircrafts in their fleet which leave plenty of room for larger, heavier items, such as aerospace and automotive parts and materials. This category also includes heavy-lift cargo freighters designed for project cargo. Since heavy-lift freighters are uncommon, their charter services are highly specialized and rarely operate on a scheduled basis.
  • Combination Aircraft Carriers: Carriers that have both passenger and freighter aircrafts in their fleet are known as Combination Aircraft Carriers.

Air transport is relatively expensive, but often the fastest mode of transport available to cover medium to long distances. Therefore typical air cargo consists of goods with a high value and/or an operationally or commercially critical delivery time (high financial breakdown risk). This is called special cargo, which requires special handling acceptance, warehousing and shipment:

Special cargo includes:

  • Heavy cargo (HEA)
  • Human remains (HUM)
  • Live Animals (AVI)
  • Dangerous Goods (DGR)
  • Diplomatic Cargo Shipments (DIP)
  • Perishable Cargo (PER)
  • Valuable cargo (VAL)

Three Primary Air Freight Options

The three primary air shipping options are next flight out, consolidated, and deferred. Any one (or all) may work for your business. There are other options to consider as well, like air charter, which can help secure the capacity you need and allows you to use an exclusive aircraft to meet any other unique requirements.

  1. Next Flight Out
    Definition: As the name suggests, your air freight is shipped as soon as a flight is available.
    Characteristics: Sometimes referred to as expedited, this is the fastest air cargo shipping option, but is also often the most costly. Expedited air requires a provider with the resources to locate capacity at the last minute to ensure your timelines are met.
  2. Consolidated Shipping
    Definition: Providers combine your air freight with the cargo of several other shippers prior.
    Characteristics: Consolidated air shipments move on a set schedule. By transporting at set times and with a larger shipment of goods, providers are often able to secure better rates. The key to consolidating air cargo is having enough shipments to merge together. A small provider may not work with enough companies to have regular shipments of consolidated air freight, which could lead to delays.
  3. Deferred
    Definition: Postponing the shipment of your lower priority freight until there is space available on the aircraft.
    Characteristics: Often this type of air shipment still operates on a regular schedule. With this type of service, shippers simply defer their air cargo to the third, fourth, or fifth business day. This type of air cargo often offers the greatest cost savings due to the potential for longer transit times.

The Pros and Cons of Air Shipping

The primary benefit of air shipping is the speed with which a shipment reaches its destination. It can arrive to its final location within two weeks of being sent. This compares very favourably to ocean shipping, which can take more than two months.

Another benefit of air shipping is the way packages are handled. They are often more secure with air shippers than on ocean liners. Although packing is different for each shipping method, the timeframe for air shipping is shorter compared to ocean shipping, which may also mean less of a chance of incurring any damages.

Process of Air Shipping

Air shipping follows a specific procedure. The items must first be securely packed based on specific air shipping requirements and then transported to the airport terminal for additional shipping preparation. You can either drop off the items at a shipping company or go straight to the airline.

When preparing a package for shipment, labelling is important and should be handled correctly. This includes all documentation, as well as dimensional weight and the required arrival timeline. Once all the information and documentation is provided, you will receive an airway bill.

Based on the air shipping route, your shipment may be transferred from one plane to another before arriving to its destination. You also have other options with drop off by a client or partner.

Once the shipment reaches the destination terminal, you have 24 hours of free storage before it needs to be moved. The shipment will have to go through customs before being delivered to the customer.

Potential Delays

For major cities, most packages ship and arrive to their location within 12 to 48 hours. More secluded locations can take as long as 7 days for arrival, but that is still less than ocean shipping timelines.

You should also consider the possibility of delays due to problems with customs or airline carrier issues. Air shipping is the fastest shipping method and best option if you have a tight deadline. However, if you have plenty of time and a limited budget, ocean shipping is more cost effective.

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