Kristen Schwab

Most of the goods traveling through the Middle East are there for a layover, a pit stop to refuel on the way to Europe from Asia.

Brandon Freed, executive director of the Air Forwarders Association, says 13 percent of air freight passes through the Gulf.

In part because of their tremendously significant commercial flight programs.

About half of the goods that travel by air fly under the belly of commercial flights.

The other half goes on dedicated air cargo planes.

Usually companies that make goods that are expensive or expire quickly will pick air overseas.

We're talking pharmaceuticals, electronics, fresh-cut flowers.

Freed says shipping by air costs anywhere from five to ten times the amount of shipping by water.

Still, companies have become increasingly willing to cough up the extra cash.

Martin Dresner, a professor of supply chain management at the University of Maryland, says one reason has been fear about global conflicts.

If conflict happens, it's much easier and less time intensive to reroute cargo in the air than it is to, say, force a ship the long way around Africa.

But no method is perfect.

Limited airspace means limited cargo capacity.

And Brian Burke, chief commercial officer at Seco Logistics, says carriers are already dealing with messy routes.

There is a limit to how many planes can occupy any given route each day.

And carriers will demand higher rates.

Add longer hours for pilots and extra jet fuel, and you get higher shipping bills for businesses everywhere.

I'm Kristen Schwab for Marketplace.

uncertainty has been the economic buzzword for some time now.

Will it continue to be the way we describe the economy in the months to come?