Air freight to China
One to two weeks door to door for the things you cannot wait three months for — work equipment, a first-need consignment, documents and children's essentials.
Air freight to China takes one to two weeks door to door against eight to fourteen by sea, and costs several times more per cubic metre. That makes it wrong for a whole household and right for a small, carefully chosen consignment that lets you live normally while the sea shipment is still at sea.
The families who handle this well send about 0.5 m³ to 1.5 m³ by air — a fortnight of clothes each, work equipment, school things, and whatever makes a bare flat feel habitable — and everything else by sea.
- Door-to-door planning range
- 1–2 weeks
- Charged on
- Volumetric or actual weight, whichever is greater
- Volumetric divisor
- Commonly 1 m³ = 167 kg for air freight
- Sensible consignment size
- 0.5–1.5 m³
- Best for
- First-need items, work equipment, documents
How air freight is charged, and why it surprises people
Sea freight is charged by volume. Air freight is charged on chargeable weight: the greater of the actual weight and the volumetric weight, where volumetric weight is the volume converted at a standard divisor — commonly 167 kg per cubic metre. This inverts the usual intuition.
| Consignment | Volume | Actual weight | Volumetric weight | Charged on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Two small cartons of books | 0.10 m³ | 40 kg | 17 kg | 40 kg — actual weight |
| Four large cartons of bedding | 0.56 m³ | 20 kg | 94 kg | 94 kg — volumetric |
| One bicycle | 0.70 m³ | 14 kg | 117 kg | 117 kg — volumetric |
| One small carton of papers and a laptop | 0.05 m³ | 9 kg | 8 kg | 9 kg — actual weight |
The practical lesson: dense things fly relatively cheaply, bulky light things do not. Books, tools and equipment are reasonable by air. Duvets, pillows and coats are the worst possible use of an air consignment — and they are exactly what people instinctively pack first. Send those by sea and buy a duvet on arrival.
What to put in an air consignment
- Two weeks of clothing per person, appropriate to the season you are arriving in.
- Work equipment, chargers, adaptors and any hardware you need to be employable on day one.
- Important documents — though carry originals of anything critical rather than shipping them.
- Prescription items in reasonable personal quantities, with prescriptions to hand. Check any restricted-substance rules before you fly.
- For children: school things, and the specific toy that matters. Ask a parent who has done this; they will all say the same.
- A minimal kitchen kit if you are arriving into an unfurnished flat.
One importation, two shipments. Mainland Chinese customs generally expect a person's personal effects to be presented as a single importation. Splitting between air and sea is normal and routinely handled, but it needs declaring properly at the start so both consignments are entered coherently. Tell us at survey that you are splitting — it is a documentation question, not an afterthought.
Questions people ask before booking
How long does air freight from the UK to China take?
One to two weeks door to door. The flight itself is under a day; the rest is collection, export handling, Chinese customs clearance and delivery. Clearance is the variable stage, as it is by sea.
Is air freight cheaper than airline excess baggage?
For one or two bags, airline excess is usually simpler and can be cheaper. Beyond that, air freight generally wins, and it is collected from your door rather than dragged through an airport.
Can I send everything by air if I can afford it?
You can, and for a very small shipment it can make sense. For a household move the arithmetic rarely does — the volumetric weight of furniture and soft furnishings makes it disproportionate. We will price it if you ask.
Will my air shipment clear customs faster?
The clearance process is the same and depends on the same documents. Air shipments simply arrive sooner, which means your residence permit needs to be in place sooner. That catches people out.
Get an air freight quote for China
Five short questions, and a move consultant replies with a written estimate.