Air freight from China

Because the greater of two figures is charged: actual weight and volumetric weight worked out from the dimensions of the pieces. Light, bulky cargo occupies space that is paid for at the same rate as heavy cargo. Groupage by sea and by road is charged on the greater of the two as well — but in air the divisor is tighter and the rate per kilo higher, so getting it wrong costs more here than anywhere else. Where the line falls is set by the product rather than by law: air cargo uses one divisor, courier products another, set by the tariff of that particular product. We give you the figure on your actual dimensions, not a ballpark.

It depends how they travel. A battery installed in the device is one case; a spare battery in the same box is another; batteries on their own, as a consignment, are a third. These are three regimes with different requirements, and the last is the strictest: lithium-ion batteries shipped on their own do not travel on passenger aircraft, only on cargo aircraft, and with a limit on the state of charge. From 2026 the charge limit applies not only to batteries flying on their own but also to batteries sent together with equipment. The practical conclusion: how the order is put together has to be agreed before it is placed with the factory — it changes the conditions of carriage more than the product itself does.

The test summary under section 38.3 of the UN Manual of Tests and Criteria — confirmation that the cells have passed the prescribed tests. It is tied to the specific cell model and its manufacturer: a summary for a similar model is not accepted, and without one the consignment is not taken on board. Ask the factory for it along with the samples, not once the cargo is at the warehouse.

A liquid is not dangerous goods in itself — the composition is what matters. The cargo is classified under the carriage rules on the basis of its composition, taken from the safety data sheet for the specific product: one liquid flies as general cargo, another is dangerous goods because of its flash point or chemistry. The safety data sheet does not do the classifying — the shipper is responsible for that. Request it from the manufacturer before you book the freight.

Goods that look harmless but fall under the dangerous goods rules. The usual cases: equipment with batteries built in, used machinery with traces of oil or fuel left in it, vehicle parts, some cosmetics and tools. The difficulty is that such cargo gets declared as general cargo by a shipper who does not know the rules — and getting that declaration right is the shipper’s responsibility, nobody else’s.

Yes. Samples are goods like any other, and writing "free of charge" or "gift" on the invoice does not make the customs value go away: a zero-value invoice is not accepted, and the value is established under the rules rather than by agreement with the supplier. One practical consequence: asking the factory to write a nil price achieves nothing and can do harm — it invites a value check across your whole range. Samples are handled as a small shipment, and we work out the duties on them in advance.

The flight is; the shipment as a whole need not be. Time goes into preparing the cargo, waiting for confirmed space, handling at the airport and customs clearance. If the documents are not ready when the goods land, the consignment goes into temporary storage where storage is charged by the day, and you lose the speed you paid for. Air delivers when it is prepared for in advance, not when it is used to rescue a date already missed.

There are ways, and none of them is repacking the cargo once it is already at the warehouse. First, packing agreed with the factory: cartons built to the goods rather than to whatever is at hand bring the volumetric weight down — it is worked out from the outside dimensions of the piece, not from what is inside it. Second, splitting the consignment: what is urgent flies, the rest goes by surface. Third, the choice of service: air cargo and courier products convert volume differently, and the range available on the Russian lane is limited — we check what is open for a particular consignment. All of this is priced before departure and we show you the difference.