Air Freight Packaging: How to Pack Cargo That Flies Cheaper

Good air freight packaging does three things: it protects the goods through several handling steps, it suits the way air cargo is built onto ULDs, and it keeps the shipment as small as possible, because air freight is billed on volumetric weight. In practice that means strong, right-sized cartons, a flat-topped pallet with no overhang, clear labels on every piece, and no paid-for empty space.

Air cargo is handled more often than most people expect: from the shipper to the forwarder, into a consolidation, onto a ULD, onto the aircraft, and the same in reverse. Each step is a chance for a weak carton to fail.

Cartons: strength and size

Use new, double-wall corrugated cartons for anything heavy or valuable. Reused cartons lose much of their stacking strength after one trip, and printing from an earlier shipment confuses handlers.

• Stacking strength. In a ULD, cartons may carry several layers above them, up to around 160 cm of cargo on a lower-deck unit. Ask your packaging supplier for the box compression rating and compare it with the weight that will sit on top, with a safety margin for humidity and vibration.
• Fill the carton. Contents should be supported to the walls, so the carton does not collapse when something is stacked on it. But every centimetre of void fill is billed, so use the smallest carton that does the job.
• Weight per carton. Cartons that one person can lift (around 20 to 25 kg) are handled more carefully than heavy ones. Heavier goods belong on a pallet or in a crate.
• Uniform sizes. A shipment of identical cartons builds into a tight block. Ten different sizes leave gaps and get built less efficiently.

Sizes that suit air cargo

Two numbers matter most: the height limits of the ULDs your cargo will travel in, and how the carton footprint divides the base.

There is no single perfect carton for all ULDs, but common sizes in multiples of 20 cm (40, 60, 80) combine well. The exact count for an LD3 is worked through in LD3 container dimensions.

Pallets and crates

• Wood packaging and ISPM 15. Solid wood pallets and crates crossing borders generally must be heat-treated or fumigated and carry the ISPM 15 mark. Plywood, OSB and plastic pallets are exempt. Unmarked wood can be refused or treated at destination at your cost.
• Lighter pallets. On a light shipment, a 25 kg wooden pallet adds to both actual and volumetric weight. Plastic or presswood pallets are lighter and exempt from ISPM 15.
• No overhang. Cartons sticking out past the pallet edge get crushed and are measured at their outermost point. Equally, a pallet much larger than the load wastes space.
• Flat top. A square, flat top lets the handler build other cargo on top. A pyramid-shaped build often gets a no-stack label and wastes the space above it.
• Forklift access on all four sides where possible, and fork pockets on crates.

Labelling and marks

• Air waybill number and piece count (for example 3 of 12) on every piece. Forwarders add their own labels for house air waybills.
• Shipper and consignee names and addresses on at least one face, matching the documents.
• Orientation arrows on two opposite sides if the goods must stay upright.
• Handling labels such as fragile or keep dry, used only where they apply. Too many labels get ignored.
• Dangerous goods marks and labels as required by the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations. Lithium batteries, aerosols, paints and many chemicals are regulated; the shipper is responsible for correct classification and packing.
• Remove or cover old labels and barcodes.

Cutting volumetric weight: a worked example

Say you ship 40 small appliances. Each unit in its retail box measures 35 × 30 × 25 cm. Your usual export carton holds 4 units side by side in one layer and measures 75 × 65 × 55 cm, topped up with loose fill. Each packed carton weighs 18 kg.

1. 1Current packing: 10 cartons. Volumetric weight per carton: 75 × 65 × 55 ÷ 6,000 = 44.7 kg. Total 447 kg volumetric against 180 kg actual. Chargeable: 447 kg.
2. 2Look at the void: the 4 retail boxes in a 2 × 2 layer take 70 × 60 × 25 cm, so the carton has 2.5 cm round the sides and 30 cm of loose fill above them.
3. 3Repack: 4 retail boxes stacked 2 × 1 × 2 (70 × 30 × 50 cm), with 2 cm protection all round, gives a carton of 74 × 34 × 54 cm. Volumetric weight: 74 × 34 × 54 ÷ 6,000 = 22.6 kg per carton.
4. 4Ten cartons: 226 kg volumetric, still above the 180 kg actual, so the chargeable weight is about 226 kg, half the original.

The retail packaging is doing much of the protection already, which is why less padding can be enough. Test with a drop test or a trial shipment before changing a whole product line. The calculation rules themselves are explained in air cargo chargeable weight.

Checklist before handing over

• Every piece measured and weighed after packing, and the figures match the booking.
• No overhang, no bulging cartons, tape on all seams.
• Pallets stretch-wrapped and strapped, with corner boards where cartons are heavy.
• Labels on every piece, old labels removed.
• ISPM 15 mark on solid wood packaging.
• Dangerous goods identified and declared, or confirmed as not regulated.
• Build plan checked: will the pallets or cartons fit the ULD and the deck height of the booked flight? See air cargo size limits.

If you prepare several pallets per shipment, a quick 3D plan of each pallet build in EveryLoading shows the outer dimensions and how full each one is, before anything is wrapped.