Air freight

Air freight is the most expensive option per kilometre and the fastest per kilogram. For small, high-value cargo — electronics, spare parts, medical equipment, sample batches — the difference often costs less than waiting in a warehouse or stopping a production line. The 5–8 day window from Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Shanghai into Baku is the reason most of our air bookings exist.

Once the air waybill (AWB) is issued, you receive the flight schedule and the expected arrival time. Customs clearance at Heydar Aliyev International Airport is handled by us. Door delivery and, where it is needed, help with unpacking or installation are added on request. Airport-to-airport is available if you already have a handler on the Baku side.

Pricing is per kilogram, but the kilogram that is charged is the greater of the actual weight and the volumetric weight (length × width × height in centimetres, divided by 6000). Light, bulky cargo — display stands, empty housings, foam-packed goods — often bills above the scale weight, and we calculate both figures before the quote goes out so the number you approve is the number on the invoice.

The working sequence is short because the mode is short. We collect from the supplier or receive at the origin airport. The cargo is labelled, the AWB is issued, and the flight is confirmed. You get the schedule the same day. On arrival in Baku the shipment is presented to customs; with a complete set of documents clearance is typically one to three business days, after which the cargo is released for collection or delivery.

Documents are the commercial invoice, the packing list and, for some goods, licences or certificates. Lithium-ion batteries, aerosols, fuel and other dangerous goods are either banned from passenger and cargo aircraft or need special documentation. Send a description of the cargo before we book the flight — a refused shipment at the origin airport costs more than a conversation the day before.

Shipments under 45 kg are accepted, but a minimum rate applies. For a handful of samples a courier service is often cheaper, and we say so in the quote rather than forcing air freight onto a parcel. Express at 3–5 days is the option when the ordinary 5–8 day product is not fast enough; temperature-controlled cargo is quoted separately because it needs a specific product, not a blanket on an ordinary pallet.

Air is the wrong default for furniture, building materials and anything that fills a container. Those belong on sea or rail. It is the right default when the cargo is late, when a spare part is holding a line, when a sample has to be in a buyer’s hands before a contract is signed, or when the value per kilogram is high enough that a month at sea is the more expensive risk. We will put the sea and rail figures next to the air figure when the volume could go either way.

Insurance is worth taking on air for high-value electronics and medical equipment even though the transit is short. A carrier’s liability is still capped per kilogram. The premium is 0.3–0.8% of invoice value and the cover runs to the door in Baku. The quote is ready in one working day once we have the weight, the dimensions and the delivery address.

The 5–8 day window is collection, the flight, and clearance, not the airborne hours alone. A shipment that misses the day’s cut-off at origin waits for the next allocated flight; that is why we ask for the packing list before we promise a weekday. Express at 3–5 days is a different product with fewer stops, not the same booking with a red stamp. If the cargo is already late leaving the factory, say so — the quote will say whether the ordinary product can still land in time.

A usable air quote needs the actual weight, the dimensions of each piece, a description that is honest about batteries and liquids, the origin airport or the supplier’s city, and the delivery address in Baku. Volumetric weight is calculated before the number goes out. A carton that is 80 × 60 × 60 cm and weighs 8 kg will not be billed as 8 kg; we show both figures so the invoice does not come as a surprise at the airport.

The holds we see on air into Baku are almost always papers or a commodity that should not have been booked: an incomplete invoice, a battery that was not declared, a certificate that the customs post wants and nobody obtained. We check that list before the AWB is issued. Once the cargo is on the ramp, changing the description is expensive. Send the description first; book the flight second.