THE DEVELOPMENT OF SEA-AIR INTERMODAL TRANSPORTATION - AN ASSESSMENT OF GLOBAL TRENDS

The sea-air intermodal transportation service is considered a relative ly recent entrant into the transportation industry involving the movem ent of cargo by sea on its first leg of its journey and air on its sec ond. Its transit time is about half that of seafreight and the cost is reduced to half that of airfreight. The 'half the time half the cost' notion was touted as the mainstay of the concept and proved impressiv e on paper as the service sought to capture the advantages of both sea and air transportation giving users a greater flexibility to meet a v ariety of schedules and situations. This paper traces the global trend s in the development of sea-air transportation from its teething stage s to rapid growth and subsequent stagnation over the past thirty years . The pattern of growth highlights the question of the viability of th e concept which is also examined in the paper.