Global route coverage: sea ports vs air airports, which network is more complete?

1. Coverage breadth and density
   Sea ports: There are more than 4,000 major ports in the world, distributed in coastal areas of various continents, especially concentrated in East Asia (such as Shanghai, Singapore), Europe (such as Rotterdam, Antwerp) and North America (such as Los Angeles, New York). Inland ports further extend the coverage (such as the Yangtze River and Rhine River basins).

Air airports: There are about 3,800 civil airports (about 1,300 international airports) in the world, which are more evenly distributed and can be directly reached from inland cities. Hub airports (such as Dubai and Atlanta) connect to remote areas through transit, but there are still gaps in remote areas (such as inland Africa).

Conclusion: Sea transportation has a high density in coastal areas, and air transportation has a more balanced coverage in inland areas.

2. Transportation efficiency and timeliness
   Sea transportation: fixed routes (such as the Suez Canal and the Strait of Malacca), slow speed (container ships are about 15-25 knots), and transoceanic transportation takes several weeks.

Air transport: Flexible routes, fast speed (800-900 km/h for civil airliners), cross-continental transport only takes hours, suitable for high timeliness requirements (such as fresh food, electronic products).

Conclusion: The air transport network is a complete winner in terms of timeliness, but it relies on hub nodes.

3. Infrastructure and connectivity
   Maritime transport: Relying on natural deep-water ports and artificial waterways, the expansion cost is high (such as Shanghai Yangshan Port costing US$12 billion), but the single port throughput is large (such as Singapore Port handling more than 30 million TEUs per year).

Air transport: Airport construction is less restricted by terrain (such as Lhasa Airport), but the runway and air traffic control system requirements are strict. Large airports (such as Beijing Daxing Airport) can invest tens of billions of dollars.

Conclusion: Maritime transport has stronger single-point throughput capacity, and air transport nodes are easier to expand.

4. Economic efficiency and cargo volume
   Sea transport: 80% of global trade volume (over 11 billion tons of seaborne cargo per year), large single-ship capacity (24,000 TEU container ships).

Air transport: only 1% of trade volume, but 35% of cargo value (such as chips, medicines), limited single-aircraft capacity (about 140 tons for a Boeing 747 cargo plane).

Conclusion: Sea transport is the mainstay of trade, and air transport is a high-value supplement.

5. Geopolitical and climate impact
   Sea transport: greatly affected by strait politics (such as the Strait of Hormuz), piracy (Somali waters) and typhoons.

Air transport: restricted by airspace control (such as the closure of routes due to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict) and volcanic ash (such as the 2010 Icelandic volcano).

Conclusion: Sea transport risks are longer-term, and air transport disruptions are more sudden.

Comprehensive comparison table
Dimensions Sea ports Air airports
Number of nodes 4,000+ major ports 3,800+ airports (1,300 international)
Deep coverage Coastal + inland rivers Global inland direct access
Timeliness Weekly-monthly Hourly-daily
Cargo share 80% trade volume 1% trade volume (35% cargo value)
Single point cost Port construction billions of dollars Airport construction billions of dollars
Final conclusion
Definition of perfection: In terms of geographical coverage, air transport is slightly better due to inland penetration; in terms of freight network capacity, sea transport is irreplaceable.

Scenario selection:

Choose sea transport: bulk goods, low cost, non-time-sensitive demand (such as oil, ore).

Choose air transport: high value, urgent materials (such as vaccines, electronic products).

The two are actually complementary networks, together forming the “arteries” (sea transport) and “capillaries” (air transport) of the global supply chain.