Know About Air Freight
What is Air Freight?
- Air freight is a type of transportation in which packages and goods are delivered by air.
- Air freight is one of the safest and fastest methods of shipping goods and packages. It is most often used for time sensitive deliveries or when the distance to be covered by the shipment is too large for other delivery modes such as ocean shipping or rail transport.
Who Uses Air Freight?
- Generally, air freight is utilized by businesses that need to transport goods internationally. It is commonly used for transporting expensive items that are time-sensitive, have a high value, or are not able to be shipped by other means.
- Air freight is also a viable option for those who need to transport cargo quickly (i.e express shipping).
What Can be Sent Via Air Freight?
- Most items can be shipped by air freight, however, there are some restrictions surrounding ‘dangerous goods’.
- Items such as acids, compressed gas, bleach, explosives, flammable liquids, ignitable gases, and matches and lighters are considered ‘dangerous goods’ and cannot be transported via airplane.
Why Ship by Air?
- There are a number of benefits to shipping via air. Most notably, air freight is significantly faster than sea freight or trucking. It is the top choice for international express shipping, as goods can be transported on a next-day, same-day basis.
- Air freight also allows you to send your cargo almost anywhere. You are not limited by roads or shipping ports, so you have much more freedom to send your products to customers all around the world.
- There is also generally more security surrounding air freight services. As your products won’t have to go from handler-to-handler or truck-to-truck, the likelihood of theft or damage occurring is much less.
Advantages of Shipping by Air
- Speed: If you need to move cargo fast, then ship by air. A rough estimate of transit time is 1-3 days by express air service or air courier, 5-10 days by any other air service, and 20-45 days by container ship. Customs clearance and cargo examination at airports also take a shorter time than at sea ports.
- Reliability: Airlines operate on strict schedules, which means cargo arrival and departure times are highly reliable.
- Security: Airlines and airports exercise strict control over cargo, significantly lowering the risk of theft and damage.
- Coverage: Airlines provide wide coverage with flights to and from most destinations in the world. Additionally, air cargo might be the only available option for shipments to and from landlocked countries.
Disadvantages of Shipping by Air
- Cost: Shipping by air costs more than transporting by sea or road. According to a World Bank study, air freight costs 12-16 times more than ocean freight. Also, air freight is charged on the basis of cargo volume and weight. It is not cost-effective for heavy shipments.
- Weather: Airplanes cannot operate in adverse weather conditions like thunderstorms, cyclones, sand storms, fog, etc. This may cause a delay in your shipment getting to its destination and disrupt your supply chain
Senghor Logistics Advantages in Air Shipping
- We have signed annual contracts with airlines, and we have both charter and commercial flight services, so our air rates are cheaper than the shipping markets.
- We provide an extensive range of air freight services for both export and import cargo.
- We coordinate pickup, storage, and customs clearance to make sure your cargo departs and arrives as per plan.
- Our employees have at least 7-year experience in logistics industries, with shipment details and our client's requests, we will suggest the most cost-effective logistics solution and time-table.
- Our customer service team will update the shipment status every day, letting you know indications of where your shipments are up to.
- We help to pre-check destination countries' duty and tax for our customers to make shipping budgets.
- Shipping safely and shipments in good shape are our first priorities, we will require suppliers to pack properly and monitor the full logistics process, and buy insurance for your shipments if necessary.
How Air Freight Works
- (Actually if you tell us about your shipping requests with shipment expected arrival date, we will coordinate and prepare all documents with you and your supplier, and we will come to you when we need anything or need your confirmation of documents.)
What is the operation process of international air freight logistics?
Export process:
- 1.Inquiry: Please provide detailed information of the goods to Senghor Logistics, such as the name, weight, volume, size, departure airport, destination airport, estimated time of shipment, etc., and we will offer different transport plans and corresponding prices.
- 2.Order: After confirming the price, the consignor (or your supplier) issues a transportation commission to us, and we accept the commission and record the relevant information.
- 3.Cargo preparation: The consignor packages, marks and protects the goods in accordance with the requirements of air transport to ensure that the goods meet the air cargo shipping conditions, such as using appropriate packaging materials, marking the weight, size, and fragile goods mark of the goods, etc.
- 4.Delivery or pickup: The consignor delivers the goods to the designated warehouse according to the warehousing information provided by Senghor Logistics; or Senghor Logistics arranges a vehicle to pick up the goods.
- 5.Weighing confirmation: After the goods enter the warehouse, the staff will weigh and measure the size, confirm the actual weight and volume, and feedback the data to the consignor for confirmation.
- 6.Customs declaration: The consignor prepares the customs declaration materials, such as customs declaration form, invoice, packing list, contract, verification form, etc., and gives them to the freight forwarder or customs broker, who will declare to the customs on their behalf. After the customs verifies that it is correct, they will stamp the release stamp on the air waybill.
- 7.Booking: The freight forwarder (Senghor Logistics) will book suitable flights and space with the airline according to the customer's requirements and the actual situation of the goods, and notify the customer of the flight information and relevant requirements.
- 8.Loading: Before the flight takes off, the airline will load the goods onto the plane. During the loading process, attention should be paid to the placement and fixation of the goods to ensure flight safety.
- 9.Cargo tracking: Senghor Logistics will track the flight and goods, and promptly transmit the waybill number, flight number, shipping time and other information to the customer so that the customer can understand the shipping status of the goods.
Import process:
- 1.Airport forecast: The airline or its agent (Senghor Logistics) will forecast the inbound flight information to the destination airport and relevant departments in advance according to the flight plan, including flight number, aircraft number, estimated arrival time, etc., and fill in the flight forecast record.
- 2.Document review: After the plane arrives, the staff will receive the business bag, check whether the shipment documents such as the freight bill, cargo and mail manifest, mail waybill, etc. are complete, and stamp or write the flight number and date of the arrival flight on the original freight bill. At the same time, the various information on the waybill, such as the destination airport, air shipment agency company, product name, cargo transportation and storage precautions, etc., will be reviewed. For the connecting freight bill, it will be handed over to the transit department for processing.
- 3.Customs supervision: The freight bill is sent to the customs office, and the customs staff will stamp the customs supervision stamp on the freight bill to supervise the goods. For goods that need to go through import customs declaration procedures, the import cargo manifest information will be transmitted to the customs for retention through the computer.
- 4.Tallying and warehousing: After the airline receives the goods, the goods will be short-distance transported to the supervision warehouse to organize the tallying and warehousing work. Check the number of pieces of each consignment one by one, check the damage of the goods, and stack and warehouse them according to the type of goods. At the same time, register the storage area code of each consignment and enter it into the computer.
- 5.Document handling and arrival notification: Split the consignment of goods, classify and number them, allocate various documents, review and allocate the master waybill, sub-waybill and random documents, etc. After that, notify the owner of the arrival of the goods in time, remind him to prepare the documents and make customs declaration as soon as possible.
- 6.Document preparation and customs declaration: The import cargo agent prepares the "Import Goods Declaration Form" or "Transit Transport Declaration Form" according to the requirements of the customs, handles the transit procedures, and declares customs. The customs declaration process includes four main links: preliminary review, document review, taxation, and inspection and release. The customs will review the customs declaration documents, determine the commodity classification number and the corresponding tax number and tax rate, and if necessary, will also assess the tax, and finally release the goods and retain the customs declaration documents.
- 7.Delivery and charges: The owner pays for the goods with the import delivery note with the customs release stamp and inspection and quarantine stamp. When the warehouse ships the goods, it will check whether all kinds of customs declaration and inspection stamps on the delivery documents are complete, and register the consignee information. The charges include freight to be paid, advance commission, document fees, customs clearance fees, storage fees, loading and unloading fees, airline storage fees at the port, customs pre-entry fees, animal and plant quarantine fees, health inspection and inspection fees, and other collection and payment fees and tariffs.
- 8.Delivery and transshipment: For imported goods after customs clearance, door-to-door delivery service can be arranged according to the owner's requirements, or transshipment to a local company in the mainland, and the mainland agency will help recover the relevant fees.
Air freight: Cost and Calculation
Both cargo weight and volume are key to calculating air freight. Air freight is charged per kilogram on the basis of gross (actual) weight or volumetric (dimensional) weight, whichever is higher.
- Gross weight: Total weight of cargo, including packaging and pallets.
- Volumetric weight: Volume of cargo converted into its weight equivalent. The formula to calculate volumetric weight is (Length x Width x Height) in cm / 6000
- Note: If volume is in cubic meters, divide by 6000. For FedEx, divide by 5000.
How Much is the Air Rate and How Long Will it Takes?
Air freight rates from China to the UK (updated December 2022) |
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Departure City |
Range |
Destination Airport |
Price Per KG ($USD) |
Estimated Transit time (days) |
Shanghai |
Rate for 100KGS-299KGS |
London (LHR) |
4 |
2-3 |
Manchester (MAN) |
4.3 |
3-4 |
||
Birmingham (BHX) |
4.5 |
3-4 |
||
Rate for 300KGS-1000KGS |
London (LHR) |
4 |
2-3 |
|
Manchester (MAN) |
4.3 |
3-4 |
||
Birmingham (BHX) |
4.5 |
3-4 |
||
Rate for 1000KGS+ |
London (LHR) |
4 |
2-3 |
|
Manchester (MAN) |
4.3 |
3-4 |
||
Birmingham (BHX) |
4.5 |
3-4 |
||
Shenzhen |
Rate for 100KGS-299KGS |
London (LHR) |
5 |
2-3 |
Manchester (MAN) |
5.4 |
3-4 |
||
Birmingham (BHX) |
7.2 |
3-4 |
||
Rate for 300KGS-1000KGS |
London (LHR) |
4.8 |
2-3 |
|
Manchester (MAN) |
4.7 |
3-4 |
||
Birmingham (BHX) |
6.9 |
3-4 |
||
Rate for 1000KGS+ |
London (LHR) |
4.5 |
2-3 |
|
Manchester (MAN) |
4.5 |
3-4 |
||
Birmingham (BHX) |
6.6 |
3-4 |
Senghor Sea & Air Logistics is proud to offer you our experience in shipping between China to the world with one-stop international shipping services.
To receive a personalized Air Freight quote, fill in our form in less than 5 minutes and receive a reply from one of our logistics experts within 8 hours.