Sea-Air Freight

Sea-air freight combines the two main international modes in one routing. Cargo is shipped by ocean to a hub port, moved to a nearby airport and flown on to its destination; less often the order is reversed, air first and ocean second. The result sits between the two modes on both cost and time: faster than ocean all the way, and cheaper than air all the way.

How a sea-air shipment moves

1. Ocean leg: the cargo sails from the origin port to the hub, as LCL or in a full container, on a bill of lading or sea waybill
2. Transfer: at the hub it is unloaded, usually kept under customs control as cargo in transit, trucked to the airport and built up onto aircraft pallets or containers (ULDs)
3. Air leg: it flies from the hub to the destination airport on an air waybill and clears customs there

Classic hubs

• Dubai: the best-known sea-air hub, linking the port of Jebel Ali with Dubai's airports; cargo from Asia arrives by sea and flies on to Europe, Africa and beyond
• Singapore: one of the world's largest container ports alongside a major cargo airport, used for cargo from across Asia
• Colombo: Sri Lanka's transshipment port, used for sea-air cargo from South Asia, notably Bangladesh
• The North American West Coast: on the transpacific, cargo from Asia can sail to Los Angeles, Seattle or Vancouver and fly on, typically to Latin America (often via Miami) or to Europe

The cost and time trade-off

Sea-air is a trade-off, not a shortcut. Compared with air the whole way, the ocean leg takes cost out of the longest part of the trip, but adds the sailing time and the transfer at the hub. Compared with ocean the whole way, the air leg skips the rest of the voyage and any onward transshipment, so the cargo arrives sooner. How much it saves in money or days depends on the lane, the hub and the space available, so compare a sea-air quote with all-ocean and all-air quotes for the same cargo and the same delivery date, using door-to-door transit time rather than port-to-port.

When it fits

• Cargo that must arrive faster than ocean allows, but whose value per kilo does not justify flying the whole way
• Peak seasons and capacity crunches, when direct air space from origin is scarce
• Dense cargo fits better than light, bulky cargo: the air leg is billed on chargeable weight, so volume costs as much on that leg as it would on an all-air routing

What to watch

• More handling: the transfer at the hub adds a lift and a repack, so pack for both modes
• Missed connections: a late vessel can miss the planned flight, as with any transshipment
• Country of origin: for US imports it stays the country where the goods were made, not the hub they passed through (19 CFR 134.1(b))

Airlift books both ocean freight and air freight. If you want a sea-air routing compared with all-ocean and all-air for your cargo, ask us: we can quote it as a combination of ocean and air legs.