Air Freight or Sea Freight? How to Choose

Choosing between air and sea is one of the biggest decisions in any shipment. It affects your costs, your cash flow and how quickly you can start selling.

When air freight makes sense

• You need the goods urgently – stock-outs cost more than freight
• The goods are small, light and valuable, such as phones or spare parts
• The goods are perishable, such as fresh produce or medicines

When sea freight makes sense

• The cargo is heavy or bulky – furniture, machinery, building materials
• You can plan ahead by a month or more
• Keeping costs low matters more than speed

How each is charged

Air cargo is charged by chargeable weight: the greater of the actual weight and the volumetric weight (length × width × height in cm ÷ 6000). Sea freight is charged by volume (CBM) for shared containers, or per container for FCL.