Airplanes emit significant amounts of greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide (CO2), as well as pollutants such as nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter. High fuel consumption and emissions per unit of cargo make air transport less environmentally friendly compared to maritime transport. According to the International Transport Forum, freight transport represents a total of 7% of all global emissions. U.
S. environmental legislation requires that polluters take responsibility for damage caused and pay for losses, in accordance with the “polluter pays” principle. Globalization has opened up new routes and reduced the cost of international shipping of goods, but the choice of mode of transport can have a serious impact on the environment. Shipping can take up to one month to transport products from the port of departure to the port of destination, and you may have to wait up to three days to unload them. When it comes to the carbon footprint of air transport versus maritime transport, ocean liners may have the advantage in this case.
If you only have to ship once and your shipment is light, you can pay the same for air transport as for sea transport. No matter the distance between the country of origin and destination, air cargo takes less than 36 hours, even from the farthest points in the world. The chargeable weight can be scandalous in air transport because it affects the total price to be paid. However, if you need your shipment in a matter of days and are shipping light cargo, you'd better rely on air transport. Maritime transport (or maritime transport if you prefer), based exclusively on the carbon footprint, reveals that transporting cargo by ship offers significant advantages compared to transporting cargo by plane. Although you may have few variables depending on the shipping company, shipping usually has a lower fixed price than air transport.
That said, one factor worth considering when choosing between air and maritime transport is the carbon footprint of each option. If your company is undecided when it comes to choosing between shipping and air transport, both have advantages and disadvantages. We'll also look at some economic considerations that can help you decide between the carbon footprint of air transport and that of shipping. The Be Informed intelligent automation platform (which uses intelligent model-based automation to capture and automate processes quickly) and the ITTS help air cargo companies to consolidate and organize their systems and data, making it easier for air cargo operators to improve the quality and consistency of their environmental sustainability reports. In addition to the environmental factor, choosing maritime transport instead of air transport has many advantages.
Either way, it's important to be informed about the different impacts of air transport versus maritime transport so that you can make the best decision according to your needs.
