Work equipment
The reason you're moving
Monitors, drawing boards, professional tools, camera kit, instruments for a working musician. If a start date depends on it, it should not be at sea for three months.
Air freight for international moves
Your container will take between one and three months to reach the other side of the world. Air freight is how you bridge that gap — the work equipment, the children's beds, the clothes for the season you are landing in. It is also usually cheaper than paying an airline for excess bags.
Last reviewed:
At a glance
- Typical transit
- 3–10 days door to door
- Priced on
- Chargeable weight, in kilos
- Suits
- Roughly 20–250kg
- Collected from
- Any UK address
- Book by
- 2–3 weeks before you fly
÷6000The sum that decides what your shipment actually weighs
3–10 daysRather than the 8–15 weeks a container takes
No aerosolsThe prohibited list is far longer than for sea freight
UnaccompaniedIt travels separately, so you don't queue with it
What air freight actually is
Unaccompanied air freight means your belongings fly as cargo rather than as your luggage. We collect from your door, pack to airline standards, complete the export paperwork, and consolidate your consignment with others going the same way. It flies in the hold of a scheduled passenger aircraft or on a dedicated freighter, clears customs at the other end, and is delivered to your new address.
You are not there for any of it, and you do not need to be. Nothing goes on your ticket, nothing counts against your baggage allowance, and you are not standing at an oversize baggage desk in a foreign airport with four suitcases and a bicycle box.
How your boxes become air cargo
Your cartons do not travel loose. Once collected, they are consolidated with other consignments going the same way and built onto an aircraft pallet — stacked to a profile that fits the hold, wrapped, and netted down so nothing shifts at altitude.
The pallet is weighed and measured, which is where your chargeable weight is finally fixed, then security screened and released to the airline against an air waybill. That number is yours, and it is how the shipment is tracked from the moment it leaves the warehouse.
- You get the air waybill numberAlong with the flight, so you can see where your belongings are rather than wondering.
- Consolidation is what keeps the rate downSharing a pallet with other consignments costs far less than booking space alone, and adds a day rather than a week.
Collected in the UK · Flown as cargo · Delivered to the door
Why a box of pillows costs the same as a box of books
Sea freight is priced by the space you take up. Air freight is priced by weight — but not the weight on the bathroom scales. An aircraft runs out of room long before it runs out of lifting power, so airlines charge on chargeable weight: whichever is greater of what your consignment actually weighs and what it would weigh if it were of average density.
That second figure is called volumetric weight, and the sum is the same everywhere: length × width × height in centimetres, divided by 6,000. A carton measuring 60 × 40 × 50cm has a volumetric weight of 20kg. If it is full of books it might really weigh 25kg, and you pay for 25. If it is full of duvets it might weigh 6kg, and you still pay for 20.
This is the single most useful thing to understand before you decide what flies. Dense, small, heavy things are efficient by air. Light, bulky things are not, and are usually better waiting for the container.
Work out your chargeable weight
Measure a box, weigh it, and see which figure you would be charged on. Add each different size of item you plan to send.
What you would be charged on
- Actual weight
- —
- Volumetric weight
- —
- Chargeable weight
- —
A guide to the basis of the price, not a price. Rates vary by destination and by how full the aircraft is that week. Couriers and express services often divide by 5,000 rather than 6,000, which makes bulky items dearer still.
Air or sea?
Most people moving abroad use both: a small air shipment that lands with them, and a container that follows. Here is the honest comparison.
| Air freight | Sea freight | |
|---|---|---|
| Door-to-door timeTypical, worldwide | 3–10 days | 5–15 weeks |
| Priced onWhat the bill is calculated from | Chargeable weight in kilos | Volume in cubic feet |
| Cost per unitRough relative order | Roughly ten times sea, per kilo | The economical option at volume |
| Sensible sizeWhere each stops making sense | Around 20–250kg | From a few boxes to a full house |
| What can travelRestrictions | Tighter. No aerosols, flammables or loose batteries | Broader, but still no hazardous goods |
| Best forIn practice | Anything you need in the first month | Everything you can live without for a season |
The rule of thumb: below about 100kg chargeable, air is often competitive with a small shared-container consignment once you account for the weeks saved. Above roughly 250kg, sea almost always wins on cost by a wide margin. We price both and show you the two figures side by side rather than steering you.
What people actually send by air
The same six things come up again and again on this route. If your list looks like these, air freight is the right answer.
Children's essentials
Beds, and the toy that matters
A cot, a familiar duvet, the specific bear. Children handle a move abroad far better when their own bed is there on night one, and it is the single kindest use of an air shipment.
Clothes for the season you land in
Excess baggage, done properly
Arriving in a Canadian November with your coats in a container is a costly mistake. Same for arriving in a Dubai August with nothing but jumpers.
Documents and valuables
Shorter journey, fewer hands
Certificates, deeds, jewellery and small heirlooms. A shorter transit with fewer handling points genuinely reduces risk, and insurance is cheaper on it.
A month of living
Enough to feel settled
Bedding, towels, kitchen basics, a kettle, school uniforms. Enough that you are not buying a second set of everything while the container crosses the Pacific.
Anything with a deadline
Exams, contracts, seasons
Students starting a term, a trade fair, a wedding, a new job. Where the date is fixed and the container's arrival is not, air freight buys certainty.
How long it takes
Door to door, from UK collection to delivery at your address. The flight is the short part — most of the time is collection, export clearance, consolidation and customs at the other end.
| Destination | Air freight | Sea, for comparison |
|---|---|---|
| United Arab EmiratesDubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah | 3–6 days | 4–8 weeks |
| United States and CanadaNew York, Toronto, Los Angeles, Vancouver | 4–8 days | 4–12 weeks |
| Singapore and Hong Kongand the wider region | 4–7 days | 7–12 weeks |
| South AfricaCape Town, Johannesburg, Durban | 5–8 days | 6–11 weeks |
| Australia and New ZealandAll major cities | 7–10 days | 8–15 weeks |
| EuropeBy road, for comparison | 2–5 days by road, which is usually cheaper than flying | |
Airport to airport is typically one to three days. Everything else is on the ground. Customs clearance for personal effects is normally quick, but a shipment selected for examination will add days at either end, and quarantine-sensitive destinations such as Australia and New Zealand inspect air consignments as thoroughly as sea ones.
What an air shipment includes
Quoted as one price, door to door. Anything not on this list is named in your quotation rather than discovered later.
- Advice on what is worth flying and what should wait for the container
- Export cartons and packing materials, delivered to you if you are packing yourself
- Professional packing to airline standards, if you would rather we did it
- Collection from any UK address, including Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
- A screened check against the dangerous goods list before anything is sealed
- A numbered, valued inventory for customs and for insurance
- UK export documentation and airline security screening
- Air waybill and consolidation with other consignments to keep the rate down
- Customs entry and clearance at destination
- Quarantine and biosecurity declarations where the destination requires them
- Delivery to your door, not to an airport cargo shed
- Transit insurance quoted against your valued inventory
What cannot fly
Aircraft rules are far stricter than ships'. A pressurised cabin at altitude turns ordinary household items into hazards, and the list catches almost everyone out at least once.
The things people try to pack anyway
None of this is us being cautious. These are international dangerous goods rules, they are enforced by screening, and a prohibited item found in your consignment can delay the whole flight's cargo and land you with a penalty. Ask us if you are unsure — the answer takes ten seconds.
- Aerosols of any kindDeodorant, hairspray, dry shampoo, spray paint, air freshener. Even empty ones. This is the most common find by a distance.
- Perfume, aftershave and nail varnishAlcohol-based and therefore flammable. Nail varnish remover likewise. Carry small quantities in your hand luggage instead.
- Loose lithium batteriesPower banks, spare laptop and camera batteries, e-bike and scooter batteries. Batteries fitted inside a device are usually acceptable; loose ones are not.
- Vapes and e-cigarettesProhibited in cargo, and banned outright in some destinations including Singapore. They travel with you or not at all.
- Paint, solvents and cleaning chemicalsPaints, thinners, adhesives, bleach, oven cleaner, pool chemicals and garden sprays are all restricted or refused.
- Anything fuelled or pressurisedLawnmowers, strimmers, chainsaws, camping stoves, gas canisters, fire extinguishers, diving cylinders and lighters, including empty fuel tanks with vapour in them.
Dangerous goods rules are set internationally and updated regularly. We give you a written list before you pack, and we check the consignment again before it is sealed.
Excess baggage, without the airline desk
Airlines price excess luggage to discourage it. Beyond your allowance you are typically charged a flat fee per additional bag, then a punitive rate per kilo above that, paid at the desk on the day when you have no alternative. Two extra suitcases on a long-haul ticket can cost more than sending five boxes as freight.
- You are not carrying itNo dragging four cases through two airports, no oversize desk, no gamble on whether the connecting flight takes them.
- It is priced before you commitYou know the figure when you book, not when you are standing at check-in with a queue behind you.
- Send more than you could carryBicycles, golf clubs, a guitar, boxes of books, a small desk. Things that are impossible as luggage and trivial as freight.
- The trade-off is timeYour bags land when you do. Freight arrives a few days later. If you need it the moment you touch down, pay the airline.
StudentsA term's belongings, sent ahead rather than hauled
Sports kitBicycles, skis, golf clubs and diving gear, properly boxed
InstrumentsGuitars, brass and strings, crated for the hold
Part loadsFive boxes to fifty, priced the same way
How it works
From the phone call to the doorstep, usually inside a fortnight.
Tell us what
A rough list and a destination is enough. We will tell you what should fly, what should sail and what should not travel at all.
Pack or be packed
We deliver export cartons for you to fill, or send a crew. Either way we check the contents against the dangerous goods list before sealing.
Collection
Picked up from your door anywhere in the UK, weighed and measured properly so the chargeable weight on your invoice is the real one.
Screened and flown
Security screening, export entry, and onto the aircraft. You get the air waybill number and the flight it is travelling on.
Cleared and delivered
Customs entry at destination, any quarantine declaration, then delivery to the address you gave us. Not to a cargo terminal.
Air freight: common questions
How much does air freight cost?
It is priced per kilo of chargeable weight, and the rate depends on the destination and how full the aircraft is that week. Rather than quote a number that will be wrong by the time you read it, use the calculator above to work out your chargeable weight, then send it to us and we will price it properly. As a shape: a handful of cartons to Dubai is a very different figure from two hundred kilos to Auckland.
Is it cheaper than paying the airline for extra bags?
Usually, once you are past one extra bag. Airlines charge a fixed fee per additional piece and then a steep rate per kilo, and it is paid at the desk when you have no leverage. Freight is priced in advance and scales far better. The exception is a single extra suitcase, where the airline is often simpler and no dearer.
Why is my light box priced as though it were heavy?
Because of volumetric weight. Aircraft run out of space before they run out of lift, so airlines charge on whichever is greater: what your box weighs, or what a box that size would weigh at average density. Divide length by width by height in centimetres by 6,000 and you have the figure. Bulky and light is the expensive combination.
Can I send it before I have an address?
You can send it, but somebody has to receive it. A hotel will rarely accept a freight delivery, and storage at destination is charged daily. If your address is not confirmed, it is usually better to hold the shipment with us for a week than to have it sitting in a customs shed abroad. We will say which is cheaper.
Do I pay duty on it?
Air freight is treated as unaccompanied personal effects, exactly like a sea shipment, so the same reliefs and the same rules apply at your destination. If you qualify for duty-free entry on your container, you qualify on your air consignment. The paperwork is the same, and we prepare it either way.
Can I send a bicycle, or golf clubs, or a guitar?
All three, frequently. Bicycles need the pedals removed, the handlebars turned and the tyres partly deflated, and they must be clean if the destination is Australia or New Zealand. Instruments travel in their cases inside a crate. We will tell you how to prepare each one.
What if I only want to send a few boxes?
That is a large part of what we do. There is no minimum household to qualify: students, single postings and people sending a term's belongings ahead are all routine. Below about 20kg a courier is usually cheaper, and we will tell you so rather than take the booking.
Can you do both air and sea for the same move?
That is the most common arrangement, and the one we usually recommend. A small air consignment lands with you and covers the first month; the container follows with everything else. One survey, one consultant, two shipments, and we make sure nothing is on both lists or neither.
Get an air freight quotation
Tell us roughly what and roughly where. A consultant will come back within one working day.
- Air freight desk
- 07749 924755
- airfreight@halointernationalrelocations.com
- Sending a household as well?
- Use the move estimator for the sea freight volume, and we will quote both together.
- Where are you going?
- Read the destination guides for Australia, New Zealand, the USA, Canada, the UAE, South Africa, Singapore and Hong Kong.