UK Air Freight — Express, Standard & Consolidated Worldwide

Express air freight is the premium tier — direct door-to-door delivery with the shortest possible transit. Cargo is collected within hours of booking, flown on the next available departure (often the same day from London Heathrow), cleared on arrival and delivered the next working day in most major cities.

Express suits urgent commercial spares, AOG (Aircraft On Ground) parts, time-critical samples, broadcast and production equipment, and any cargo where the cost of delay exceeds the freight premium. Typical transit: 1 working day to USA East Coast, 2 days to Asia and Oceania, same-day to most of Europe.

Standard scheduled air freight uses the same passenger and freighter aircraft as express, but with a less aggressive routing — cargo waits for the most economical sailing rather than the next departure. Transit is typically 3–5 days door-to-door worldwide, at roughly 40–60% of express pricing.

Standard is the right balance for most commercial shipments: machinery parts, fashion samples, consumer electronics, marketing materials and seasonal goods. We arrange UK collection, airline handover, customs clearance both ends and destination delivery.

Consolidated air freight bundles your shipment with others travelling on the same route, sharing the airline's contract rate across all cargo on the flight. The carrier saves money on volume, and we pass the saving on. Transit is 5–10 days because cargo waits for the weekly or twice-weekly consolidation flight to depart.

Groupage is the cheapest air-freight option and works well for non-urgent commercial cargo, personal effects, and shipments too valuable for sea freight but where express premiums aren't justified.

Many everyday products are technically dangerous goods under IATA regulations — lithium batteries in laptops and tools, aerosols, perfumes, magnetised devices, dry ice for perishables, paints and adhesives. They can still fly, but only if classified, packed, marked, labelled and documented by a trained shipper using UN-spec packaging.

Our team holds current IATA DGR certification and we can prepare DG declarations, source approved packaging and book DG-capable flights. We also handle compatibility checks — some classes can't fly together on the same aircraft.

Perishable cargo (food, flowers, seafood, pharmaceuticals) requires temperature-controlled handling from collection to final delivery. We book temperature-controlled trucking, cool-dolly transfers, active or passive cool containers and refrigerated airline ULDs. Pharma shipments use IATA CEIV-certified handling for GDP compliance.

Air freight charges the chargeable weight — the greater of actual gross weight (kg) or volumetric weight (L × W × H cm ÷ 6000). A 100 kg box that measures 100 × 100 × 100 cm has a volumetric weight of 167 kg and pays on that figure. Dense cargo like metal parts pays on actual weight; light, bulky cargo like furniture pays on volumetric.

On top of the per-kg rate you'll see fuel surcharges (typically £0.30–£0.80/kg), security surcharges (£0.10–£0.20/kg), terminal and screening fees, plus customs and trucking. Our quote breaks out every line so there are no surprises.

London Heathrow (LHR) is our primary hub — the UK's largest cargo airport with the deepest network of long-haul carriers and dedicated freighter operators. We also book ex London Stansted (STN) for express integrators, East Midlands (EMA) for UPS/FedEx/DHL hubs, Manchester (MAN) for North America and Asia, and Glasgow Prestwick (PIK) for outsized and Antonov charters when needed.

Every air export needs a commercial invoice or proforma, packing list, HMRC C88 export declaration (we lodge electronically under our EORI) and an Air Waybill (AWB) issued by the carrier or by us as a House AWB. Controlled goods (dual-use technology, defence-related items, wildlife products) may need export licences — we'll flag this at quote stage and guide you through the application.