Doesn’t matter if you want to travel overseas or send shipments across the border, air transport got you covered. Compare this with other means of transportation technology. And, the calculation will speak for itself. Even if you take into account the time required to reach the aerodrome, you will see that it still takes lesser time to reach your destination compared to other means of transportation. Air transport has connected the globe now more than ever. Most of the businesses now use airfreight to send shipments across. And, why would they not? It makes delivery and pickup processes quicker.
In the market, customers prefer brands that can provide expedited services. Furthermore, in cases of emergency, no mode of transportation is as relevant as air transport. It is one of the most feasible modes to keep the situation under control. For passengers, air transport makes their journey comfortable by providing a wide range of services, right from hospitality to security.
Advantages of Air Transport
There are a bunch of advantages for Air transportation. It made global trade possible by providing connectivity on different scales. Irrespective of your region, you can trade worldwide. It has promoted tourism, eventually creating many employment opportunities. With this, let’s look at some benefits of air transport –
1. Quick service
Air transport is most popular for the quick service it provides. Want to cross borders? Simply use airways, and in a few hours, you’ll be at your destination. You can basically travel to any part of the world, or trade anywhere you want. It is the fastest mode of transport, providing you convenience. Some products are perishable which is why it needs to be moved across quickly, and for long-distance air transport is used to prevent decay. Additionally, there are cases of emergency when immediate delivery is needed, and for this, we have air cargo.
2. High security
No doubt, Airports are at a high exposure to risk, this is why there is high security. There are security services that ensure the safety of the passengers as well as occupants. A few of these services are, security screening of passengers, checked baggage, freight, vehicles, in-flight supplies, and many more. It deals with security issues and ensures safe travel.
3. Saves time
Time is invaluable, and businesses understand this very well. Air transport helps businesses to use their work time more efficiently, all the while allowing them to save costs indirectly. Compared to other modes of transport, air transport shortens the time taken to reach the destination. Furthermore, the flight timings are very reliable. The obvious advantage of highly reliable arrival and departure times is that there won’t be delays, which otherwise can be very expensive.
4. Open to all regions
We do have many modes of transport, but not every mode of transport can reach all regions. In such cases, mostly air transport is used because it can even reach regions that are not easily accessible. In today’s times, there are airlines almost across the globe. Basically, these large networks of airlines cover almost the entire world, so that anyone can travel or send packages anywhere.
5. No physical barrier
When you travel by road, you face physical barriers such as forests, mountains, and human settlements, which causes delays and makes the journey difficult. And, when you travel by water, you face physical barriers like reefs. Also, the depth of the water influences your journey. But this is not the case with air transport. There are no physical barriers here, and its route is comparatively shorter and direct. The advantages and disadvantages of water transport talks about this.
In addition to this, custom formalities can be compiled quickly, which is why there is no delay in obtaining clearance.
6. Air transport makes packages safer
When you transport things using airplanes, your packages are going to be much safer. Unlike road transport, the amount of jerks and gutters that a package has to go through is minimum to none. Except when the package is being handled on the airports, there is nothing that interrupts its smooth existence. So, if you have something very fragile to be transported over long distances, air transportation would be the best way to go. It might cost you a lot though.
Disadvantages of Air Transport
We went through the advantages of air transport, now let’s look at what lies on the other side. A few of the disadvantages of air transport are as follows –
1. Huge investment
Indeed, air transport takes you to places in no time, but the investment behind its setup is massive. It’s an expensive business to run an aerodrome. It needs continuous investments to enhance the infrastructure and get skilled and experienced personnel. Even the training of people involved in this industry can be quite costly. But considering, many lives are at stake, none of these factors can be compromised.
2. Expensive
The cost of fuel is quite high, operating costs are more, construction of aircraft and aerodromes are costlier, and so air transport is expensive. Since it is the most time-efficient means of transportation, the fare is high. Keeping all the advantages it provides aside, it is still not an ideal choice for traveling for most, as common people can hardly afford it.
3. Risky
Even though air transportation is the safest option, still there are risks involved in it. The worst part is that despite having a low rate of risk occurrence, the consequences can be catastrophic. Considering many people are involved here, this is expected. Airfreight carries more goods compared to other transportation means. So, even if there is a minor crash, it can lead to significant losses. It can negatively impact the crew as well. Overall, air transportation can be a risky affair.
4. Weather conditions
Air transport doesn’t have to deal with physical obstacles, but it has its own challenges to face. One such challenge is weather conditions. The changes in the weather are unexpected, which is why several factors are monitored 24×7, and the weather intelligence is used. Some extreme weather conditions faced by the airline industry are high winds, lightning, snow, and hail. All of these need to be tackled, and the airline industry takes several measures to adjust and adapt quickly.
5. Environmental concerns
If you are an environmentalist, you already know how air transportation contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, causing pollution. A single trip across countries emits more carbon than an average individual during the course of a year. Very rarely, people realize that air transportation is the most carbon-intensive activity. As most of them are blinded by the enormous benefits it provides. Carbon capture technology can be a solution to this problem.
6. Air transport has legal restrictions
While transporting goods over air, it is not only the own country’s laws but also the laws of whichever countries the plane has to go through should be followed. There can be a lot of legal restrictions that entirely prevent the transport as well. So, at times, the transportations could be affected by the local laws of the region contributing towards the late arrivals or deliveries.