Air Import and Export

What our air freight service covers

We move cargo by air in both directions, from a single carton through to a full pallet or charter booking, on scheduled passenger and freighter services out of Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Manchester, East Midlands and Edinburgh. Export shipments are booked, screened and built onto pallets or shipped loose under our own house air waybill, while import shipments are tracked, cleared on arrival and delivered.

Air freight suits time-sensitive cargo, high-value goods where a shorter transit reduces exposure, and shipments where the cost of holding stock in transit outweighs the higher freight rate compared with sea. It is not usually the right choice for heavy, low-value bulk cargo where sea freight's lower cost per kilo makes more sense.

Cargo types and service levels

General cargo, documents, machinery parts, electronics and retail stock all move routinely by air, alongside more specialised freight such as dangerous goods handled by IATA-trained staff. Service levels range from economy consolidations, which group several shipments together for a lower rate but a slightly longer transit, through standard and express services, to next-flight-out for genuinely urgent cargo.

Choosing the right service level is a balance between cost and urgency: a consolidation might save a meaningful amount on a shipment that is not time-critical, while next-flight-out costs considerably more but can move a critical spare part within hours of collection.

• Economy consolidation for cost-sensitive, non-urgent cargo
• Standard and express scheduled services
• Next-flight-out for genuinely urgent shipments
• Charter and part-charter for oversized or time-critical loads

UK collection and airport handling

Cargo is collected from your address or works and brought to a Regulated Agent facility for security screening before it can be built onto an aircraft, a step required by aviation security regulation for all commercial air cargo. We handle this screening as part of the export process, so there is nothing extra for you to arrange separately.

Airport choice affects both cost and transit time: Heathrow offers the widest range of direct freighter and belly-hold capacity, while regional airports can sometimes offer a faster or cheaper routing for cargo destined near that airport's network. We choose the routing on the balance of price, transit and handling risk rather than defaulting to the same airport every time.

Preparing cargo for air freight

Air freight packaging needs to withstand handling through several transfer points and, on some routes, temperature and pressure changes in an unpressurised cargo hold. Cartons should be strong enough to be stacked and handled by conveyor and forklift, with clear labelling and a packing list attached to the outside as well as included inside.

Dangerous goods — batteries, aerosols, certain chemicals — must be declared and packed to IATA regulations, and undeclared dangerous goods are one of the most common causes of a shipment being refused at the screening facility. We check for this at the booking stage so it does not surface as a problem on collection day.

Customs and documentation for air shipments

Export shipments need a commercial invoice, packing list and, depending on the goods, an export licence or certificate of origin, all of which travel with the house air waybill we issue. On import we lodge the customs declaration ahead of the flight's arrival where possible, so clearance can happen before or immediately after landing rather than adding a delay.

Pre-clearance is available on many routes, meaning the paperwork is checked and approved before the aircraft lands, allowing the cargo to move straight from the airline shed to your door without waiting for a manual clearance to be processed after arrival.

Pricing structure and what changes the rate

Air freight is charged on whichever is greater of actual weight or volumetric weight, since low-density cargo takes up hold space out of proportion to its physical weight. Service level, airport pair, and whether the shipment is a consolidation or booked as a standalone airway bill all affect the final rate.

Fuel surcharges and security charges are added by the airline and can change month to month, so we quote against current published rates rather than a fixed historical figure, and flag any change before confirming a booking.

Transit times and insurance

Scheduled air freight typically moves door to door within two to six days depending on the route and clearance times at each end, while consolidations can add a day or two as cargo is grouped before departure. Charter services can move within hours of collection where the urgency justifies the cost.

Cargo insurance is worth arranging even on fast transits, since loss or damage can still occur during ground handling, and standard carrier liability limits are modest compared with the value of many air shipments. We can place cover based on the declared value of the goods for the duration of the movement.

Common mistakes and destination delivery

The most frequent issues on air shipments are incomplete commercial invoices, undeclared dangerous goods, and underestimating volumetric weight when comparing quotes, which can make an apparently cheap quote considerably more expensive once measured. Providing full and accurate documentation at booking avoids almost all of these.

At destination we clear the cargo, settle any duty or VAT where instructed, and arrange final delivery, with same-day delivery achievable in many cases where pre-clearance has already been completed before the flight lands.