In short
- Air is priced per chargeable kilogram — actual weight vs volumetric weight, whichever is greater (cm ÷ 6,000).
- Sea LCL is priced per CBM or tonne; FCL per container. Light, bulky cargo pays for air it cannot afford; dense cargo flies cheaper than it looks.
- The honest test is value density: if the goods are worth several thousand dollars per chargeable kg of delay, air usually wins.
- Transit difference is real but smaller than it looks: door to door, air saves roughly 2–3 weeks against sea — the rest of the timeline is documents on both modes.
How each mode prices your cargo
The pricing bases are different instruments measuring the same box. Know which one will be applied before comparing rates.
| Basis | Air freight | Sea (LCL) | Sea (FCL) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit | Per chargeable kg | Per CBM or per tonne (W/M) | Per container |
| Volumetric rule | L × W × H (cm) ÷ 6,000 = chargeable kg | CBM itself is the measure | Filled space, no per-kg logic |
| Dense cargo | Bills on actual kg — favorable | Bills on tonnes when denser than 1 t/CBM | Weight-limited, not volume-limited |
| Light, bulky cargo | Bills on volumetric kg — painful | Bills on CBM — gentle | Wastes box space unless consolidated |
| Minimum charges | Common per-shipment minimums | Often 1–2 CBM minimum | One box minimum |
Chargeable weight, worked
One crate, 120 × 80 × 90 cm, actual weight 110 kg. Volumetric kg = 120 × 80 × 90 ÷ 6,000 = 144 kg. Air bills 144 kg, not 110. All rates illustrative — subject to the prevailing quote.
| Line | Air (illustrative) | Sea LCL (illustrative) |
|---|---|---|
| Chargeable basis | 144 kg (volumetric beats 110 actual) | 0.864 CBM → billed as 2 CBM minimum |
| Rate | USD 3.20/kg | USD 90/CBM |
| Freight subtotal | 460.80 | 180 |
| Origin + destination fixed fees | 85 | 145 |
| Logistics total | 545.80 | 325 |
| Door-to-door time (illustrative) | about 4–7 days | about 16–24 days |
The trade-off in one line: For USD 221 of illustrative difference you buy roughly 2–3 weeks. Whether that is cheap depends entirely on what the cargo is worth per day of delay — which is the value-density test below.
The value-density test
Compare the freight to the value of the goods, then to the value of the time. Two thresholds do most of the work.
- Air-to-value sanity check: if air freight exceeds roughly 15–20% of the goods value, the cargo is probably not an air candidate unless the delay cost is severe.
- Delay cost: a stopped production line, a missed retail season or a contractual penalty makes USD 500 of air freight trivial next to the cost of 3 sea-weeks.
- Weight band reality: below ~50 kg air is usually the only sensible option; 100–500 kg is the true decision zone; above ~1,000 kg air needs a strong urgency story.
When air genuinely wins
These are the profiles we fly without hesitation — each has a reason stronger than the rate.
- Spare parts for stopped machinery — the downtime cost dwarfs the freight by orders of magnitude.
- Sample and pre-production runs — days of market or factory feedback beat weeks.
- High-value, low-weight electronics — phones, chips, modules: dense in value, light in kg, theft-sensitive but sealed air chains are short.
- Season-tight retail — sea misses the window, air catches it; the margin on the season pays the delta.
- Documents-critical cargo — when a clearance file must be fixed fast, flying a replacement shipment can be cheaper than storage on a stuck one. See Detained Cargo Costs.
When sea wins — and by how much
Sea is not merely cheaper; on this lane it is structurally suited to most commercial volumes.
- Anything above the mid-teens CBM moves FCL, where air is not even a candidate. See FCL vs LCL.
- Raw materials, furniture, building goods — low value density, tolerant of weeks, priced per CBM that sea treats kindly.
- Planned inventory — if your reorder cycle is 6 weeks, the sea transit fits inside it and air buys nothing.
- The hidden sea advantage: clearance, permits and taxes are identical on both modes — the document discipline you build for sea also makes your rare air shipments fast.
The mixed strategy
Most real answers are not either/or. Split the consignment by urgency, not by ideology.
- Fly the first 5–10% that starts production or fills shelves; sea the remaining 90%+ behind it.
- The air slice is priced on its chargeable kg alone — keep it light, keep it dense, keep it truly urgent.
- Both legs can share one HS/permit preparation, so the compliance work is done once. See Lartas & Restricted Goods.
- We quote the mix with the same inclusions on both legs — see Comparing Quotes.
Related pages
This page summarizes field practice and publicly available Indonesian import rules for general business reference only—it is not legal, customs, or pricing advice. Customs provisions, tariff rates, and licensing requirements keep changing, so the rules in force at the time and the official processing result always prevail. Wuhan Freedom International Logistics Co., Ltd. · Licensed PPJK in Indonesia · Jakarta / Semarang / Wuhan.