Air freight quotes are hard to compare because the rate is only part of what you will pay, and the rest is a list of charges with names that vary between forwarders. A quote that looks twenty per cent cheaper routinely turns out to exclude the customs entry, the delivery from the arrival airport, or both. The single most useful question to ask an air freight service is not what is your rate, it is what is not in this number.
What the rate itself is
A price per kilogram of chargeable weight, which is the greater of actual weight and volumetric weight at the carrier's divisor, usually with a minimum charge that catches small consignments. Rates move with capacity: the same lane can be materially cheaper or dearer a month later, which is why an air freight quote is normally valid for days rather than months and why a rate quoted from memory is worthless.
The air freight charges that sit around the rate
Fuel and security surcharges, terminal handling at each end, the export and import customs entries, delivery from the arrival airport, and storage if the consignment waits beyond a free period. Carriers publish some of these: Parcelforce publishes air carrier supplements on its own site, which is the closest thing to a published surcharge schedule anywhere in this record. Most forwarders publish none of it.
Comparing two air freight prices honestly
Put both on the same terms first. Airport to airport and door to door are not the same purchase, and the gap between them on a long route is large enough to reverse which quote wins. Then ask each for the excluded list explicitly. A forwarder that answers that question straightforwardly is usually the one to use, independently of the rate.
What air freight logistics means in practice
Coordination: booking the space, getting the consignment to the airport before the cut-off, filing the entries and arranging the far end. It is what you are paying a forwarder for rather than the flying, and on a straightforward parcel it is worth nothing, which is why anything inside the published parcel bands should go as a parcel.
Questions people ask about air freight service
How much does an air freight service cost?
It is quoted per shipment on chargeable weight and moves with capacity, so no rate is published in this record. The published tier below it ends at £21.40 for 30kg with Parcelforce.
What is included in an airfreight quote?
Usually the flight and handling. Customs entries, delivery from the arrival airport and storage beyond a free period are frequently separate, so ask what is excluded before comparing two quotes.
Why do air freight prices change so often?
They track available capacity on the lane. A quote is normally valid for days rather than months.
What is a minimum charge on air freight?
A floor under the per-kilogram rate that catches small consignments, which is one reason anything inside the published parcel bands is cheaper sent as a parcel.