Yes, Air India Cargo provides both active and passive solutions for shipping pharmaceutical and perishable products. Our reliable partnerships with industry leaders in containers, ensure the safe and secure journey of your temperature-sensitive shipments with minimal excursions.

Air India utilises its passenger aircraft bellies for transporting cargo. Our investments in widebody and narrowbody aircraft are expected to increase our cargo carrying capacity in the coming years.

The carrier or its duly authorised agent for and on behalf of the shipper or consignee may, but shall not be obligated to, comply with the formalities required by customs and other government authorities. They may, but are not obligated to, advance any duties, taxes and other charges and make any disbursements. The shipper, consignee and owner of the goods shall be jointly and severally liable to the carrier for the reimbursement of any payments made. A copy of the Air Waybill certified by the carrier shall be deemed as the original copy for any such purpose. 

The shipper is obligated to comply with all customs regulations and other government regulations of any country flown from, to, or over relating to the packing, carriage, and delivery of goods, including the furnishing of such information and documents as may be necessary to meet such requirements; however, the carrier is under no obligation to inquire into the correctness or sufficiency of required information, documents or marking.

We expect the shipper to abide by the packaging guidelines set forth under IATA regulations that apply for the commodity you wish to ship. For a detailed understanding of the regulations and guidelines that apply for packaging your shipment, you can connect with us at - cargocare@airindia.com.

Air India Cargo will not accept any shipments found to be not airworthy and inconsistent with the packaging guidelines stipulated by IATA. 

Consignments are accepted for air transportation by Air India in the following ways -  

• directly from the shippers  

• through cargo agents 

• through interline partners, only if the cargo is in 'ready for carriage' condition. 

Your shipments are handled responsibly in accordance with IATA Regulations. The handling differs depending on the nature of your shipment. You can learn more about how we provide unique handling solutions based on your shipment needs here.

If you are a postal authority wishing to associate with us as your preferred partner for the carriage of your shipments, we request you to book your shipments as Mail. Equipped with advanced mechanisms for scanning and tracking air mail bags, we are the preferred partners for India Post, United States Postal Service (USPS), Australia Post and more.

Courier is ideal for e-commerce and other businesses wishing to send their shipments directly through Air India. You can ship documents, gift samples and more with Air India Cargo’s Courier service.

We do not, however, allow the shipment of commodities classified as Dangerous Goods (DG) either as Mail or Courier.

No, our Valuables product line is different from Vulnerables. Air India Cargo’s Valuable allows you to ship high-value items with advanced protection and surveillance. If your consignments are valued at over 1000 USD per kg, you should ship them as Valuables.

 Vulnerables on the other hand, allows you to ship your high value and high-risk commodities, provided they are not valued over 1000 USD per kg. It is a great option to ship fragile and other sensitive cargo like electronics, with added protection against theft and damage. 

Air India is involved with providing an airport-to-airport service for shipping your cargo. As a carrier, we support logistic companies in the cargo operations process by handling the middle mile. From accepting your cargo for departure to delivering it to the freight forwarder upon arrival, Air India follows a process that is in accordance with standard regulations and practices.

Departure 

The process of acceptance begins after your cargo is booked. Upon reaching the terminal, cargo is offloaded and subject to weight and volume checks. Once the customs processing is done and the Let Export Order is received, the shipment is screened and kept in the warehouse. Cargo is then prepared and organised for transportation based on the load advise during the build-up and unitisation phase. After ensuring that cargo is assembled and arranged on pallets and containers securely and in accordance with carrier regulations, it is then released to the aircraft for upliftment.

Arrival

Once cargo arrives at the destination, it is unloaded from the aircraft. It is then broken-down, segregated, tallied and stored in the cargo warehouse. Upon receiving the delivery order from the airline counter, cargo is declared ready for delivery and delivered to the freight forwarder.