Air Freight

What air freight is for

Air freight is the fastest way to move goods over long distances, and it is priced accordingly. That single trade-off governs almost every decision on an air shipment. The mode is right when the value of arriving sooner exceeds the difference in freight cost, and it is wrong whenever it does not.

The comparison worth making is rarely air against sea in the abstract. It is the total cost of one plan against the total cost of another: freight, handling at both ends, the road legs, the cash tied up in stock while it is in transit, and the cost of whatever happens if the goods are late. Dense, high-value consignments come out closer than expected once inventory cost is counted. Bulky, low-value cargo rarely does.

Air freight is not yet part of what LogisticID arranges. The business coordinates European road freight through third-party carriers today. What follows explains how the mode works, so the decision can be made on its merits.

Chargeable weight: why a light shipment can cost like a heavy one

An aircraft runs out of space and runs out of weight, and it does not always run out of both at once. Air freight is therefore charged on whichever of two measures is greater: the actual weight of the consignment, or a weight derived from the space it occupies. The second is usually called volumetric or dimensional weight. The larger of the two becomes the chargeable weight, and that is what the rate is applied to.

The practical consequence is that density decides the bill. Cargo that is heavy for its size is charged on what it weighs. Cargo that is light for its size — packaging, textiles, mouldings, anything with air trapped inside it — is charged on the room it takes up, and the scales will never show that.

This makes packing a commercial decision rather than only a warehouse one. Reducing outer dimensions, nesting items, choosing a smaller carton, or removing a pallet that adds height without adding protection can change the chargeable weight and therefore the price. It is also why a quotation given against estimated measurements can move once the shipment is measured at acceptance: the handling agent measures what is presented, not what was described.

Airport-to-airport, door-to-door, and the road at each end

Air freight rarely begins or ends at an airport. Goods are made and used somewhere else, so almost every air movement has a road leg at each end, and those legs belong in the plan rather than after it.

An airport-to-airport booking covers the flight and the associated handling at each airport. It leaves collection, export formalities, import formalities and final delivery to be arranged separately, whether by the sender, the receiver, or a party appointed at destination. It is the right structure when one side already has arrangements at that end and wants to keep them.

A door-to-door booking places the whole chain under one instruction. It takes more to set up and it removes the gaps. The choice between the two is usually not about price at all. It is about who is willing to own the joins, because the joins are where shipments stop.

Documentation and who the cargo is released to

Air cargo moves against an air waybill, which serves as the contract of carriage and as a receipt for the goods. It differs from a negotiable ocean bill of lading in one respect that regularly catches people out: it is not a document of title, and the cargo is released to the consignee named on it. Payment structures that depend on controlling goods through a document therefore have to be arranged another way, and that has to happen before the goods move rather than afterwards.

Alongside the transport document, an air shipment travels with commercial documentation describing what is inside — typically a commercial invoice and a packing list — and with whatever certificates the commodity and the destination require. Those requirements vary by shipment, commodity, jurisdiction and trade lane, and they are revised. They must be confirmed for the specific consignment with the relevant authority or a licensed customs broker. LogisticID is not a customs broker and does not give customs or legal advice.

Cargo that cannot simply be booked

Not everything may be flown, and much of what may carries conditions. Categories that need checking before anything is promised include goods classified as dangerous for air transport, items containing or shipped with lithium batteries, aerosols and flammable liquids, magnetised material, perishables and temperature-sensitive pharmaceutical goods, live animals, human remains, and high-value cargo needing a secure handling regime.

The applicable rules are set by the operating airline and by aviation, security and customs authorities at each end. They differ between carriers and they change. Anything in these categories has to be declared honestly and early, because the alternative is cargo presented at acceptance without the right classification, packing, marking or paperwork — and that is an offload. An offload costs more time than the mode was bought to save. Air cargo is also subject to security screening, and a consignment that cannot be screened as packed may have to be opened.

Dangerous goods air freight is outside what LogisticID is preparing to arrange. A shipment requiring it should be placed with a party qualified and approved for that work.