Commercial Air Cargo from the UK — Worldwide

Who uses our air cargo service

Excess Luggage Co. has provided air cargo services from the UK since 1998 — serving both commercial cargo customers and individuals shipping personal effects. Our air cargo service covers:

Shipping commercially? See commercial sea freight from the UK — FCL and LCL groupage to 426 destinations worldwide.

• Commercial cargo — businesses importing and exporting goods, samples, documents, and freight between the UK and global markets
• Personal effects — individuals, families, and relocators shipping personal belongings and household goods overseas
• Express freight — urgent, time-critical shipments requiring fastest available transit
• Document shipping — legal documents, contracts, samples, and urgent commercial paperwork
• Specialist cargo — fragile, valuable, or oversized items requiring careful handling and specialist routing

Air cargo at a glance

Actual weight vs volumetric weight

Air cargo is charged by chargeable weight — whichever is greater between actual weight and volumetric weight. This is the industry standard across all airlines and air freight carriers worldwide.

What affects your air cargo rate

• Chargeable weight — actual or volumetric, whichever is greater
• Destination — different rates apply to different countries and airports
• Nature of goods — standard cargo, dangerous goods (DGR), valuable cargo, temperature-sensitive cargo
• Dimensions — oversized cargo (exceeding airline ULD limits) may attract surcharges
• Fuel surcharges — applied by all airlines based on current fuel costs
• Security surcharges — applied to all UK export air cargo
• Collection date / urgency — express services available for urgent cargo

Choose air cargo when

• Speed is critical — customers need goods within days, not weeks
• High-value cargo — electronics, pharmaceuticals, luxury goods where cost of capital in transit matters
• Perishable goods — fresh produce, flowers, time-sensitive food products
• Small to medium volume — where air freight cost is competitive vs sea freight + holding costs
• Emergency replenishment — restocking urgent shortfalls
• New market sampling — sending product samples to potential buyers
• Seasonal peaks — catching market windows that sea freight cannot serve in time

Choose sea freight when

• Large volumes of heavy, low-value goods where air freight cost is prohibitive
• Non-time-critical inventory replenishment with long planning horizons
• Bulk commodities — raw materials, heavy machinery, bulk chemicals
• Full container loads where air freight is simply not viable