Air Freight vs Ocean Freight

When you are importing products from around the world into the UK, there are predominantly two main options; air freight or sea freight (or maybe road if your product comes from Europe – see our road transport section for more info). Which one you choose predominantly comes down to two main factors: speed and cost. Of course, there is a good chance that your circumstances may dictate your decision. For example, need a product in 3 weeks? Well, Air freight is your only option. Got a heavy and bulky product to ship? You guessed it, sea freight will be your only (sensible) choice!

That said, the above is over simplifying things a little and there can certainly be some nuances that for consideration. In this section of the Knowledge Centre, we will look into the differences in a little more detail, to help inform you make the best decision for your business and individual requirements.

It goes without saying that we have many great suppliers to help you with whichever option you select and these can be found in the ‘ocean freight’ and ‘air freight’ sections of the LOGISTO Directory.

So, let us get down to it, Air vs. Ocean:

Let’s dive deeper:

How time critical is your requirement?

Arguably the key consideration is time. Assuming your goods are based in Asia (but applies to anywhere that is not Europe!) and you need your goods in a week or two then you will need to utilise air freight. There is simply no other mode of transport that can move products from origin to destination with such speed. As you can see from our infographic below, goods can leave China and arrive at your UK destination in 4 or 5 days (best case). Conversely, If you are not in a rush to get your shipment to the country (perhaps you have plenty of inventory and you are prepared to wait), then sea freight is undoubtedly your best option. But be prepared to wait – factory (China) to your warehouse (UK) can easily take 6 – 8 weeks.

What cost are you prepared to pay?

Whilst air freight is speedy, it comes with a hefty price tag. Air freight is usually 4-6 times the cost of sea freight for the equivalent CBM. For example, 1CBM by sea is approximately the same as 1000KG but for air freight 6CBM is equal to 1000KG. Also, If the weight of your goods increases by sea freight, it will have minimal impact. Increase the weight of your products by air freight and the cost will skyrocket, far exceeding the 4-6x multiplier.

Duty and VAT

One very important factor to consider regarding costs is Duty and VAT.

VAT might not be such an issue, if you are VAT registered as you can reclaim it. However, if you are a smaller business or are just starting out then it can have a significant cost implication.

Sea Freight	Air Freight
Goods : ₤ 5000	Goods : ₤ 5000
Freight : ₤ 310	Freight ₤ 1200
UK Duty : (6.5% of ₤ 5310) = ₤ 345	UK Duty : (6.5% of ₤ 6120) = ₤ 403
Import VAT :	Import VAT :
20% of (₤ 5000 + ₤ 310 + ₤ 345)	20% of (₤ 5000 + ₤ 1200 + ₤ 403)
20% of ₤ 5655	20% of ₤ 6603
1131	1321
Total Duty & VAT : ₤ 1476	Total Duty & VAT : ₤ 1724

As Duty & VAT are percentages, based on the total value of your products and freight, the more expensive the freight, the more you pay in Duty & VAT. As you can see from the above, it can have a significant impact on your total cost per unit.

So again, the key consideration seems to come down to the urgency that you require the goods vs. the trade-off of price. However, there are a couple of other considerations:

Reliability & Traceability

In an ever-turbulent world, with disrupted supply chains in the face of worldwide events such as Covid 19, reliability and traceability are increasingly important when considering your freight options. Securing capacity on a ocean vessel can often be difficult, with carriers bumping customers to the next departure (or worse), and sometimes vessels missing ports altogether in a bid to move equipment or alter routings and their timings. With air freight, airlines schedules are much more reliable and less subject to change. Even if they do, then the knock-on impact is often only a day or two whereas with ocean it can be weeks! Air freight also comes with more traceability, and you will get constant updates as your products move from one stage to the next e.g. ‘Departs Hong Kong’ or ‘Arrives Heathrow’.

Environmental – ecological footprint

Last, but by no means least, the environmental cost of transporting your products should be considered. Time and money is important, but, we also have a responsibility for the world we live in, not least the environment. Whilst both methods will of course have an impact on the environment, air freight is currently significantly more impactful per km vs. transportation by sea. For each kilometre travelled sea freight will emit approximately 20g of CO2 per ton of cargo moved whilst air freight is closer to 500g per kilometre.

In summary

From this section of the Knowledge Centre, you can see that the main considerations when deciding between sea or air freight is deciding whether to trade time for money. Which you choose will come down to your circumstances. You might choose a combination of the two, sending some products immediately by air whilst the majority follow by sea. Either way, you will no doubt utilise both options at some point, and when you do, remember this easy comparison to help guide your decision:

But wait, is there a ‘new’ alternative? The combo – Sea Air

We just spent this section telling you about air vs sea. Whilst that is undoubtedly the main decision in freight and the two options that cover the majority of long-distance freight volume, there is another option…

In recent years there has been a new alternative to air or sea that has grown in prominence, one that looks to find a happy medium between air freight and sea freight – Sea air. Taking some of the speed of air freight, but keeping costs more aligned to sea freight, Sea air should be considered as part of your freight mix.

Routings

Most often utilised from Asia to Europe or the USA, products are usually shipped from Asia to the Middle East before being off loaded in the Middle East and the continuing their journey via air to their final destination.

Benefits of cost and time

Sea air from China to the UK can result in your products arriving at their end destination approximately twice as quickly as purely transporting purely by sea freight. Cost savings can also be significant, with savings vs. air freight in the 25%-50% range.

When to use it Sea air?

It is unlikely that you would utilise Sea air as your regular method of freight, however it should be considered for time sensitive movements that are not urgent enough to air freight, but where time is still of the essence!

We hope this section of the Knowledge Centre has helped to inform you of the differences between and the comparable benefits of air freight vs sea freight. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out.

Of course, should you wish to find the best shipping carriers, airlines for cargo or freight forwarders then you should head straight to the LOGISTO Directory to find the very best companies to support you with your needs!

Thanks

The LOGISTO Team