"I'm sorry — this bag is 34kg. We cannot accept it as hold baggage. You will need to make alternative arrangements." Every UK airline. The same 32kg wall. The same awful moment at check-in. We fix this.
All carriers require your luggage to be no more than 23kg each. Full stop. It is not a guideline and it is not negotiable at the desk.
If your luggage is over 32kg it must travel as cargo — no airline will load it as a checked bag. Your only option at check-in is to unpack everything in front of strangers and redistribute the weight. It is slow, it holds up the queue, and it is as frustrating as it sounds.
Avoid the embarrassment. Talk to Excess Luggage Co. before you fly — 0800 096 38 39 or get a quote.
This is not a policy that can be negotiated at the desk. It is not something status cards or premium tickets override. It is an international aviation health and safety rule — the maximum weight one person can safely handle manually. Every single airline enforces it. Without exception.
Any bag over 32kg is refused at check-in and must be shipped separately. Directed to IAG Cargo for commercial freight processing. BA Economy Basic fares also include zero checked bags.
BA alternative →Emirates enforces the 32kg limit on all routes from UK airports. Overweight items directed to Emirates SkyCargo. Heavy bag fee (23-32kg): USD $100 per bag.
Emirates alternative →Virgin Atlantic enforces the 32kg limit on all routes including USA, Caribbean, South Africa, and Nigeria departures from Heathrow and Manchester.
Virgin Atlantic alternative →Turkish Airlines enforces the 32kg limit on all departures. Overweight items directed to Turkish Cargo for separate commercial shipment.
Turkish Airlines alternative →Qatar Airways enforces the 32kg limit on all Heathrow and Manchester departures to Doha and beyond. Directed to Qatar Cargo for separate handling.
Qatar Airways alternative →EasyJet and Ryanair enforce an even lower 23kg limit — and charge for every hold bag. Bags over 25kg refused or charged heavy bag fees on top of bag fees.
EasyJet alternative →The scale reads 34kg. Or 38kg. Or 41kg. The check-in agent enters the weight. The system flags it. The next three minutes of your life change completely.
No negotiation. No supervisor override. No status card exception. The 32kg rule is absolute. The agent cannot change it. The bag comes back off the belt. Your flight is in three hours.
"You can contact IAG Cargo / Emirates SkyCargo / Turkish Cargo to arrange separate shipment." Commercial rates. Commercial paperwork. Commercial timescales. No one to speak to at the airport. A phone number for a freight department. This is not a personal effects service. This is a bulk freight operation — and it will cost significantly more than it should for one bag.
You could frantically redistribute weight between bags — but do you have another bag? You could leave items behind — but which ones, and where? You could buy another bag at the airport — but 34kg of belongings into two bags in an airport terminal, with your flight boarding? The clock is ticking.
You travel without the bag. We collect it from your home address — or arrange collection from a trusted UK contact — and ship it by air freight to your destination. It arrives within 4-10 working days, subject to space and flight availability with the carriers. You are reunited with your belongings. The crisis is resolved. This is what we have done since 1998.
Call or WhatsApp us right now. We will arrange collection of your bag from your UK address and ship it to your destination — to 185 countries worldwide. Cheaper than airline cargo. Door-to-door. Since 1998.
Excess Luggage Co. · MetEx House, Hounslow · Since 1998 · 185 countries
IAG Cargo. Emirates SkyCargo. Turkish Cargo. Qatar Cargo. These are sophisticated commercial freight operations designed to move pallets, commercial consignments, and bulk business shipments. They are very good at what they do.
What they are not designed for is a single bag belonging to a person who was just turned away at check-in. The documentation is complex, the pricing is commercial, and the logistics involve taking your bag to a cargo terminal rather than having it collected from your door.
Excess Luggage Co. exists precisely for this situation. We have been shipping personal effects and unaccompanied baggage since 1998. A single bag over 32kg is not an unusual consignment for us — it is a routine shipment that we process every working day.
Air freight charges are based on chargeable weight — whichever is greater between your bag or box's actual weight and its volumetric weight. This is standard across the entire air freight industry.
Volumetric formula: Length × Width × Height (in cm) ÷ 6,000 = volumetric weight (kg)
For dense, heavy bags — clothing, books, household goods — actual weight is usually higher than volumetric weight. For light but bulky items — duvets, flat-packed boxes — volumetric weight may be higher.
We calculate both at booking and apply the correct rate. We’ll show you exactly how it’s calculated.
We apply industry-standard weight break rates. Your chargeable weight is compared against the correct weight break tier, and the rate for that tier applies to the entire consignment.
Call us for a full quote specific to your weight, dimensions, and destination.
A trusted person in the UK can drop your bags directly to our depot at MetEx House, 496a Great West Road, Hounslow TW5 0TE — just 1.5 miles from Heathrow Terminal 5. Contact us first to create a reference number.
How friend drop-off works →Place your bags in airport left luggage storage at Heathrow, Gatwick, or Stansted. Contact us with your storage reference and we will arrange collection and ship from there.
Airport storage handover →If someone is at the UK address where your bags are, we collect from their door — no airport trip needed. We come to any UK postcode.
Standard collection →Do not panic. Do not leave your belongings behind. WhatsApp or call us immediately — we will tell you exactly what to do, arrange collection, and get your bag to your destination. We have been solving this problem since 1998. You are not the first person this has happened to. You will not be the last. But right now — we can fix it.
Get a quote in minutes, or call our UK-based team on 0800 096 38 39.