AIR FREIGHT (AIR CARGO)
Air freight is the fastest growing internetional transport method in recent years. With many benefits and convenience, it is expected to become the future transportation trend.
Air freight - International transport trends
Air freight is the format of sending cargo by plane to Vietnam. This is the method of goods being transported by Cargo Aricraft or Cargo Freighter or in the belly of the Passenger Plane.
According to data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Cargo volume increased by 4.1 percent, to 63.7 million tons in 2018 and to about 65.9 million tons in 2019.
In 2020 and early 2021, Air freight has been greatly affected by Covid-19 pandemic and meet significant challenges. According to Research and Markets, the air freight market is not expected to grow during 2020 - 2025. In the influence of the e-commerce market, the B2B and B2C perspective are quickly set to the top. Requirements for convenient transportation, connection in the supply chain are appreciated.
However, Air Freight still be of interest to logistics providers, it is creating an efficient supply chain in terms of modal interfaces, reserve capacity and customs clearance. They make Air Cargo to become future key factors trend.
Air freight – Strengths and Weaknesses
The biggest advantage of air transport is high speed. Airplanes have the highest speeds of all transport available today. On average, cargo or passenger aircraft have an average speed of about 800-1000km/h, which is very high compared to other popular transports such as ships (12-25 nautical miles/h ~ 22-45km/h), trains (only about 60-80km/h in vietnam), or truck (60-80km/h).
Secondly, Air cargo also has the highest safety. You may hear some disastrous plane crashes, but the reality is that air travel is much safer than road, rail, and sea.
There are other advantages such as:
• Unobstructed by topographical surfaces as roads or sea, so it can connect almost all countries in the world.
• Having fast and on-time service, thanks to the very fast airspeed and high-value or perishable nature characteristics of goods.
• Minimize loss caused by damage, breakage, or petty theft
• Lower shipping insurance fee due to less risk than other shipping methods
• The storage fee is usually minimal due to the goods characteristics and the quick processing speed of the procedures…
• High freight fee, have to be calculated per kilogram.
• The products list is not diversified, not really suitable for transporting low value goods.
• Smaller shipping volume compared to other methods. Not suitable for transporting bulky or heavy goods. Because cargo weight will be limited by cabin size, door size, and actual weight of the aircraft. With such shipments, ocean freight is often the possible choice.
• Strict standard requirements. Relating to regulations and laws, aim at ensuring flight safety and security. Many types of high-risk goods (such as flammable, explosive, etc.) will not be accepted for transportation.
• Affected by weather: flights may be delayed due to bad weather conditions such as fog, thunderstorms, etc.
Which items are Air Freight Restrictions?
All items that are not on the list of prohibited imports or exports, they can be transported by air.
However, due to the unique characteristics of the air shipping industry, this transport method is often suitable for high-value goods, with urgent delivery time. Some of the industries that can be mentioned are as follows:
• Airmail, express mail
• Live animals, human organs, remains
• Medicine
• Valuable items (gold, diamonds, antiques)
• Technical equipment (high-tech goods, spare parts for aircraft, ships, cars)
• Luxury consumer goods (electronics, fashion)
• Perishable goods (food, fresh flowers, frozen goods)
