Airfreight rates

It is perhaps not surprising that airfreight is generally more expensive than other modes of international transport. However, the upside is that door-to-door transit times can be minimised and, where consignment sizes are small, it is frequently more cost-effective than other modes.

Airlines offer different freight rates so, in conjunction with guidance provided by your freight forwarder, you can choose which cost, route, service levels and particular airline options best suit your business needs.

The basic cost of airfreight

Airfreight is charged per kilogram - weight or volume, whichever is the greater - known as the chargeable weight.

Volumetric weight, also known as Dimensional / chargeable weight is used to used by postal companies and other freight industries and courier services around the world to invoice for the actual space that a parcel, package or pallet takes up in a vehicle or storage area. A vehicle can quickly become full of bulky, lightweight articles long before it reaches it's capacity in weight which makes for inefficient use of space

Sometimes, large items with a light overall weight can be charged according to the space they take up on aircraft. In these cases, Volumetric Weight, or dimensional (Dim) weight, is used to calculate the shipment cost.

It is recommended that you calculate the Volumetric Weight for every shipment that you send, then compare this to its actual weight. The greater weight of the two is used to work out the price .

International Volumetric Weights are calculated using the formula below:

Length x Width x Height in centimetres / 6000 = Volumetric Weight in kilograms

Other additional expenses

In addition to the freight costs quoted by your freight forwarder, you have to consider other expenses. For export goods, these typically include airline terminal handling fees, fuel and risk surcharges, including obligatory customs data-entry requirements, and physical consignment security screening. For import goods, you need to consider duty and VAT. All of these fees are additional to the forwarder's or broker's service fees.

As with any other transport mode, it's essential to ensure that you receive a written quotation from your forwarder and that you fully understand which services you're paying for and what isn't included in the price.