Everything on this planet has a good and bad aspect, its advantage and disadvantage and the field of air cargo is no exception. We have come a long way from inception, from only road cargo to sea route and now via air route. A lot of advancements have been made in all the routes but certain things are not under our control. We will be looking at the advantages and disadvantages of air cargo, with the advantages outweighing the negatives.

The Advantages of Air Cargo

1. Wide Spread Reach

The biggest advantage of air cargo is its wide reach all over the globe. Every country has an airport, thereby enabling the general public to send cargo and parcels to anywhere in the world. The other cargo route such as roads and ships have their limitations when it comes to the route, air cargo has no such hurdles, as the transportation route is free from any obstruction.

2. Time

If you have a package that needs to reach a place before a certain day or time, then look no more, air cargo is the way to go. You can send a package from one end of the globe to the other and the package will reach its destination in two to three days, unlike road and sea routes which will take months with multiple loading and unloading.

3. Reliable

Air cargo is the most reliable form of cargo service in two ways. Firstly, you don’t have to worry about someone stealing your cargo during the transit process and the second way is that air cargo is never delayed if it is delayed it is only by a couple of hours and not days and weeks like road and ship so that you can relax because your cargo will reach the final destination on time. Air cargo also provides accurate tracking, so that you can see where your cargo is at any given time, the service provider will give a tracking number once you have handed over your parcel to them.

4. The Best Transport Method For Perishable Items

For all the products that have a short shelf life like beverages, food materials, fish, and other items, air cargo is the best as you can transport them in a small windows frame. Transporting perishable items in the ship and via road have their set of risks like being delayed can cause the start degrading marking a loss to the manufacturer.

Disadvantages of Air Cargo

1. Cost

Out of all three cargo services, the air cargo is the one that will cost you more, but when taking in the advantages the price of the air cargo is justified. Your cargo will always be on time, it is reliable and no one is going to tamper with your products during the transit process. Even if we compare the distance, the air cargo will be more expensive on any given day.

2. Limitation Are There

Not all items can be sent via air cargo, there are set dimension for size and weight, as the space on planes are not as wide as, on ships, there is also a weight limit, going beyond the weight limit is dangerous as it can cause the plane to lose its lift during flight and cause a crash. Certain liquids that cannot handle high pressure and altitude cannot be shipped via air and have to make use of the road or sea route.

3. Impact of Weather

The only thing that can delay an air cargo service is the weather. If mother nature is in a bad mood, most of the flights will be canceled before take-off and if the weather condition gets worse during in flight, the cargo flight will have to make an emergency landing in the nearest airport and halt till the weather clears up.

4. Huge Investment

Air cargo requires huge investment because you need to have your fleet of planes or even leasing a cargo plane will require you to shell out a huge amount of money. Not only that there should be proper maintenance from time to time, permits and licenses will also cost you a bit and the pilots should be experienced and they must undergo routine scrutiny and must be updated with the latest software updates when it comes to the onboard flight system.

Conclusion

If you have a cargo that needs to reach a specific destination before a certain time or are you a manufacturer and exporter of perishable goods? Whoever you are, if you said yes, the air cargo is the way to go. Consult a trusted air cargo service provider who has a wide range of fleet and global presence to make sure that your cargo will reach the destination on time.