Air freight from India: a guide for businesses

Air freight from India: a practical guide for businesses

When air freight pays for itself, the documents you need, how airport handling and screening work, and how chargeable weight is worked out.

3 min readUpdated 3 Nov 2026By the Safe & Secure desk

Use air freight when days matter more than the freight bill: urgent spares, high-value light goods or short-life perishables. You pay on chargeable weight, the higher of actual and volumetric weight. Safe & Secure Logistics arranges the air leg through partner airlines and runs the road pickup and delivery at both ends.

On this page · 6 sections

When air freight pays
Chargeable weight, explained
Documents you will need
What happens at the airport
How Safe & Secure Logistics helps
Get a price for your shipment

Air is the fastest way to move goods out of India, and usually the most expensive per kilogram. The useful question is not whether air is costly. It is whether a delay would cost you more.

This guide covers when air pays, the documents you need, what happens at the airport, and how chargeable weight works.

When air freight pays

Air suits a small set of cargo very well:

Urgent spares. A part that restarts a production line is worth far more than its freight bill.
High value, low weight. Electronics, samples, documents and precision parts carry a lot of value per kilogram.
Short shelf life. Perishables that would lose value over a long transit.

Air rarely suits heavy, bulky or low-value cargo with no deadline. For those, compare road, rail or sea first. Our freight forwarding guide sets out the options side by side.

Chargeable weight, explained

Airlines bill on chargeable weight. It is the higher of two numbers:

Actual weight: the gross weight of the packed cargo on a scale.
Volumetric weight: length × width × height in centimetres, divided by 6,000. This is the common IATA convention.

A carton of 100 × 80 × 60 cm gives 480,000 cm³. Divided by 6,000, that is 80 kg of volumetric weight. If the carton weighs only 30 kg, you are billed on 80 kg.

So for light, bulky goods, packing is a cost lever. Cut empty space in the box and you cut the bill. Use our volumetric weight calculator to check before you book.

Documents you will need

For an export shipment, plan on these:

Commercial invoice and packing list, with accurate descriptions, weights and values.
Importer Exporter Code (IEC), issued by DGFT, for the exporter.
Shipping bill, filed with customs under CBIC procedures.
Air waybill, issued for the flight. It is the contract of carriage and the tracking reference.
Permits or certificates where the goods or the destination require them.

Domestic air cargo needs less paperwork, but still needs a correct invoice and a clear description of contents. Our exporting from India guide covers the export steps in more detail.

What happens at the airport

Booking. Space is booked on a flight, priced on chargeable weight.
Pickup. The cargo is collected from your site by road.
Acceptance and screening. The cargo terminal accepts, weighs and screens it. Screening follows rules set by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security.
Customs. For exports, customs clears the shipment before it is loaded.
Flight. The cargo flies under its air waybill.
Delivery. At the other end it is released and delivered by road, with proof of delivery.

Delays most often come from wrong declarations, weak packing that fails screening, or missing documents. Get those right at the start.

How Safe & Secure Logistics helps

Safe & Secure Logistics arranges air freight, domestic and international, through partner airlines. We do not own aircraft. Our desk books the space, collects your cargo, hands it over at the airport and delivers it at the other end. Urgent freight has one owner from door to door.

Behind the desk is a road business running since 1951, with 76,000+ truck hires a year, 110+ branches and offices, and 2,000+ destinations. That is what runs the road legs at both ends. See our air freight service for how it works.

Get a price for your shipment

Send the cargo details, dimensions, weight, airports and deadline. For a single shipment, request a quote. For a regular lane or a tender, send an RFQ.

Figures for Safe & Secure Logistics are for FY2025-26 from our booking register. How each one is counted is on the Facts and sources page.

Frequently asked questions

When is air freight worth the extra cost?

When a delay costs more than the freight. A stopped production line, a perishable with a short shelf life, or a high-value light item are the usual cases. For heavy, low-value or non-urgent cargo, road, rail or sea is normally the better choice.

What is chargeable weight?

It is the weight the airline bills on. It is the higher of the actual gross weight and the volumetric weight. Under the common IATA convention, volumetric weight is length × width × height in centimetres divided by 6,000.

What documents does an export air shipment need?

Usually a commercial invoice, a packing list, the shipping bill filed with customs, and the air waybill issued for the flight. The exporter needs an Importer Exporter Code. Some goods need extra permits or certificates depending on what they are and where they go.

Does all air cargo get security screened?

Yes. Air cargo is screened before it is loaded, under rules set by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security. Pack so the cargo can be screened easily and declare the contents accurately to avoid hold-ups.

Does Safe & Secure Logistics own aircraft?

No. Safe & Secure Logistics arranges air freight through partner airlines and operators. Our desk books the space, runs the road legs to and from the airport, and stays your single point of contact.

Can I send dangerous goods by air?

Some can be carried, but only when classified, packed, labelled and declared under the airline's dangerous goods rules. Many items are restricted or not allowed on aircraft. Tell the desk exactly what the cargo is before booking.