Despite its many advantages, air freight also comes with significant disadvantages that you must carefully weigh against the benefits. These limitations can be decisive factors in your choice of transport method, depending on your business model and the type of goods you ship.

Significantly Higher Costs

The most serious disadvantage of air freight is the substantially higher transportation costs. Air freight typically costs 4-6 times more than ocean freight and approximately 2-3 times more than road transport. If you want to ship 1,000 kilograms of goods from Frankfurt to New York, you’ll quickly pay between €3,000 and €5,000, while the same shipment by ocean freight costs only about €800-1,200. This cost difference makes air freight economically viable only for high-value goods or time-critical shipments.

Limited Weight and Size Capacities

Aircraft have strict weight and size restrictions that don’t exist with other modes of transport. If you’re exporting heavy machinery or large installations, you’ll quickly hit limits with air freight. A 15-ton production facility can practically only be transported by ocean freight or heavy-duty truck transport. Even if a cargo aircraft were theoretically available, the costs would be prohibitively high. This limitation restricts air freight to small to medium-sized shipments.

Strict Security Regulations and Cargo Restrictions

Air freight is subject to the strictest security regulations of all transport modes. Many goods cannot be transported by aircraft at all, or only under special conditions. If you work in the chemical industry, you must resort to alternative transport methods for many products, as dangerous goods are heavily regulated or completely prohibited in air transport. Lithium batteries, certain chemicals, magnetic materials, or even seemingly harmless goods like perfume are subject to special regulations that can complicate and increase the cost of transport.

Environmental Impact and Sustainability Concerns

Air freight causes the highest environmental impact of all transport methods, with the largest CO2 emissions per kilogram of goods transported. In times of growing environmental awareness and stricter sustainability requirements, you’re increasingly under pressure to reduce your transport emissions. As a company, you must expect critical questions from environmentally conscious customers and possibly factor in additional CO2 compensation costs.

Weather Dependency and Potential Delays

Although flight schedules are generally more reliable than shipping routes, weather conditions can cause significant delays. Snowstorms in Europe, hurricanes in Asia, or volcanic ash can paralyze entire airspaces. If you depend on punctual deliveries, such events can put you in difficulty. The volcanic eruption in Iceland in 2010, for example, shut down European air traffic for days and caused massive delivery problems.

Limited Airport Infrastructure

Not all destinations have suitable cargo airports. If you want to serve remote regions, you often have to factor in additional land transport, which increases time and costs. For example, if you’re delivering industrial equipment to Central Africa, you may need to transport the goods hundreds of kilometers by truck from a major airport like Lagos to the actual destination.

Higher Insurance Costs

Although the risk of damage is lower with air freight, insurance costs often turn out disproportionately high due to the higher value of goods per shipment. If you ship high-value goods, you must include these additional costs in your calculation.

Capacity Bottlenecks During Peak Times

During peak season or special events, capacity bottlenecks can occur that lead to drastic price increases. Toy manufacturers experience this regularly before Christmas, when demand for air freight capacity jumps dramatically and prices can double or triple.