Complementarity. Can take place when maritime and air cargo operations are jointly used in supply chain management. For instance, a retail distributor could use a location well serviced by maritime and air cargo to be able to import a range of goods according to the most effective forms of transportation. While the affordability of containerized maritime transport is usually preferred, a distributor has the alternative to use air cargo for specific cargoes (e.g. high value) or specific circumstances (e.g. urgency, disruptions in maritime transport). This could also lead to new forms of manufacturing where low value components are imported by maritime transportation and high value components are imported by air transportation. The same rationale applies if a firm is exporting a range of components (or parts) of different levels of added value and transportability. Thus, the complementarity between ports and airports is confering options (arbitrage), flexibility and also redundancy in supply chain management and help reconcile different global distribution systems.