The core disadvantages of direct air freight are concentrated in three main areas: high cost, limited route coverage, and low resource flexibility. Specifically, this manifests as a high price threshold, narrow range of applicable scenarios, and numerous restrictions on cargo and available space.
Below, Weefreight will provide a detailed analysis to help you understand these disadvantages.
I. Significantly Higher Transportation Costs Compared to Other Air Freight Methods
The price of direct air freight is usually 30%-80% higher than transit air freight. For some popular routes (such as between China and the US, or China and Europe), the price can even double during peak seasons, which is its most prominent disadvantage.
Core reason: The operating costs of direct flights are extremely high. Airlines have to bear the fuel costs, crew costs, and airport landing and takeoff fees for the entire journey. Furthermore, direct routes often use large wide-body aircraft, which have fixed capacity but a high risk of empty space, meaning the cost per unit of cargo is far higher than for transit flights.
Practical impact: For cost-sensitive goods (such as ordinary daily necessities and low-priced small commodities), the cost pressure of direct air freight is too great, directly squeezing profit margins and potentially even causing transportation costs to exceed the value of the goods themselves, making it completely uneconomical.
II. Limited Route Coverage, Difficult to Reach Small and Medium-Sized Cities
Direct air freight is only available between major global hub airports, such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen in China; Los Angeles and New York in the United States; and London and Frankfurt in Europe. Coverage of small and medium-sized cities is severely lacking.
Scenario limitations: If the destination is a small or medium-sized city, the goods still need to be transported by land or short-haul air freight from the hub airport to the final destination. This not only increases additional transfer costs but may also offset the time-saving advantages of direct flights, resulting in overall transit times similar to transit air freight.
Resource allocation: Airlines prioritize direct routes to hub airports and have very low responsiveness to the demand for direct flights to second- and third-tier cities. Most small and medium-sized cities can only be connected through transit air freight, further limiting the applicability of direct air freight. III. Limited Cargo Space, Difficult Booking, and Lack of Flexibility
Direct flights have extremely limited cargo space, especially during peak seasons (such as the Christmas stocking season and cross-border e-commerce sales periods), where demand far exceeds supply. Booking cargo space is significantly more difficult than with connecting flights.
Booking restrictions: Direct flight cargo space usually needs to be booked 1-2 weeks in advance, and airlines prioritize large customers and high-value cargo. Small and medium-sized customers or those with scattered shipments find it difficult to book space, and sometimes even face a situation where there is “price but no space.”
Difficulty in adjustments: If the cargo needs to be rescheduled or the quantity adjusted, adjusting cargo space on direct flights is extremely difficult, often requiring high rescheduling fees, or even being impossible. Connecting flights, however, offer more flexibility in choosing different flight segments, providing greater adjustment options.
IV. Strict Restrictions on Cargo Type and Size
Direct flights have far stricter requirements for cargo than connecting flights, and many types of cargo cannot be transported via direct air freight.
Restrictions on special cargo: Some direct flight routes (especially the cargo holds of passenger flights) prohibit the transportation of dangerous goods, oversized cargo, and fresh and cold chain goods. Only a few all-cargo direct flights can handle such cargo, but resources are extremely limited and prices are very high.
Size and weight restrictions: Direct flights have strict standards for cargo hold size and weight capacity. Oversized, overweight, or extra-long cargo (such as large machinery and industrial parts) is difficult to accommodate, while connecting flights allow for splitting cargo and choosing different aircraft types for transit, resulting in relatively looser restrictions.
V. Weak Risk Resistance and Greater Impact from Delays
While direct flights seem to offer stable transit times, any abnormal situation will have a far greater impact than with connecting flights. Delay Chain Reaction: If direct flights are delayed or canceled due to weather, mechanical failure, airport congestion, etc., the cargo will have to wait for subsequent flights. However, direct flights usually have fewer frequencies (some routes only have 1-2 flights per day), which may lead to delays of several days. Transit air freight, on the other hand, allows for flexible rerouting to other transit routes, thus mitigating the risk of delays.
Difficulty in Emergency Adjustments: Direct flight routes have very few alternative options. Once a problem occurs, it is difficult to quickly find a replacement flight. Transit air freight, however, can quickly resume transportation by changing transit ports or adjusting flight segments, offering greater emergency response capabilities.
VI. Unsuitable for Small Batches and Scattered Cargo
Direct air freight is more suitable for large quantities of cargo and full-pallet shipments, and is extremely unsuitable for small batches and scattered cargo.
Unreasonable Cost Allocation: Small batches of cargo occupying direct flight space individually result in extremely high unit transportation costs and very low cost-effectiveness; if consolidated shipments are chosen for direct flights, the waiting time for consolidation may offset the time advantage of direct flights, ultimately resulting in little difference in time and cost compared to transit consolidated air freight.
Service Resource Bias: Airlines and freight forwarders prioritize their direct flight service resources for large customers’ bulk orders. Small batches of cargo find it difficult to receive high-quality direct flight services and may even have to accept higher premiums.
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