Air waybill, customs clearance and freight documents
Customs clearance and the air waybill
A charter puts the departure in your hands; the paperwork stays where it was. The air waybill, the export declaration and the import clearance decide when the aircraft actually rolls. This page explains the documents and the usual obstacles. We coordinate them, but we are not a customs broker and file no declarations.
Submit a requirement any time — no account needed · first response usually within 60 minutes · 24/7 for AOG and time-critical. Optional: business account for status tracking
Documents in short
Every charter still moves on an air waybill and still clears customs. The AWB is the contract of carriage and the reference under which the shipment is tracked, declared and released; export and import declarations run alongside it. Charter changes the timing rather than the paperwork: you control the departure, so documents become the binding constraint.
- Core document
- Air waybill, one per consignment
- Master and house
- Master to the carrier, house per shipper
- Clearance
- Export at origin, import at destination
- Our role
- Coordination, not a customs broker
Scope of service
Customs and Freight Documents
Contract of carriage, receipt for the goods and the tracking reference of the shipment in one document.
- Aligning the document chain with operator, handling agent and your forwarder
- Clarifying who issues the AWB, the export declaration and the import entry
- Scheduling cut-off, clearance and slot as one sequence
- Early warning on licensable goods and sanctions screening
- Passing all flight and load documentation to you after the flight
Why documents decide the departure
Air waybill
Contract of carriage, receipt for the goods and the tracking reference of the shipment in one document.
Master and house
The master runs between carrier and forwarder; a house AWB covers each individual shipper inside a consolidation.
Two clearances
Export at the origin airport and import at destination, each with its own deadlines and parties.
Direct to operator
One brokerage layer, not three.
In air cargo charter it is common for a requirement to travel through several intermediaries before it reaches the aircraft operator. Each layer adds its own commission to the same flight. We work directly with operators, so the quote you see carries one commercial layer.
Typical chain
- 01Shipper or forwarder issues the requirement
- 02Broker A takes the enquiry, adds margin
- 03Broker B or C is asked for capacity, adds margin
- 04Operator finally quotes the flight
With Cargo Charter Network
- 01You submit the requirement once
- 02We approach operators directly from our network
- 03You receive comparable options with one accountable contact
No stacked commissions
The requirement is not passed sideways to other brokers who each need to earn on the same lift.
No cost on top for you
We are remunerated by the operator. Our involvement does not add a separate fee to your charter price.
Faster and cleaner information
Payload, dimensions, ready date and airport constraints reach the operator unchanged, instead of being relayed through several desks.
Real comparison, not one option
Because we source across operators ourselves, you see the realistic market for that routing rather than whatever one intermediary could reach.
Availability, pricing and acceptance always remain with the operating carrier. Where a requirement can only be served through a partner, we say so before you decide.
How we work
Broker, not operator
Cargo Charter Network does not operate aircraft and employs no flight crew. Every flight is performed by a licensed operator we source, compare and coordinate.
Operator selection
Operators are checked for AOC validity, insurance, aircraft configuration and route authority for the specific mission before a price is put in front of you.
One accountable contact
The same person handles sourcing, contract, permits, handling and flight watch, so there is no handover gap between quote and arrival.
What we will not do
We do not quote capacity that has not been checked with an operator, and we do not confirm acceptance of restricted commodities before the operator has accepted them in writing.
Requirement enquiry
Send the requirement to the desk
Route, ready date and payload are enough for us to start checking operators.
Requirement data stays confidential; supplier identities and margins are never shared.
How to submit a requirement
How a requirement is handled.
You send the requirement straight to the desk — no account needed. We work it against operators immediately and come back with compared options.
- 01
Send the requirement
Route, ready date, weight, dimensions, commodity and handling notes — no account, a few minutes.
- 02
We check
Availability, payload and route permissions are checked directly with operators.
- 03
Receive options
Compared operator options with payload, slots, handling and timeline — one accountable contact.
- 04
Account (optional)
For status tracking and document exchange in the portal. Account verification is usually the same business day.
No supplier identities, margins or internal sourcing data are shared. Requirement data is treated confidentially.
Aircraft
- 01B737-800BCF and A321P2F for regional lift
- 02B757-200PF and B767-300F for mid-size programmes
- 03A330-200F, B777F and B747-400F for long-haul volume
- 04IL-76TD and An-124 for ramp and outsize loading
Availability is subject to route, payload, permits and operator acceptance.
Capacity structures
Four ways to buy the capacity
The same requirement can be bought as a whole aircraft, as a share of one, as reserved space on a running rotation or as leased capacity with crew. The structure decides the price far more than the aircraft type does.
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01
Full charter
One shipment fills a deck, or timing and commodity rule out sharing
You control the schedule, the loading plan and the routing.
02
Part charter
Volume fills part of a deck and the ready date tolerates consolidation
Cost is shared across shippers inside one build-up window.
03
Blocked space
Recurring volume on a lane that already has a rotation
A fixed allocation per flight, committed for a defined period.
04
ACMI / wet lease
Capacity is needed for weeks or months, not for one flight
Aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance leased against guaranteed block hours.
Fuel, ATC, airport charges, handling and de-icing sit outside an ACMI rate. On charter they are inside the quoted price unless stated otherwise.
Around the flight
What we coordinate besides the aircraft
A charter is only as good as the ground scope attached to it. These items are quoted and coordinated as part of the mission, not left to the shipper.
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Customs and documentation
Export and import entries, transit procedures, temporary export for repair, preferential origin papers and the broker interface at both ends.
ULD build-up and packing advice
Pallet and container build-up, load spreading, lashing plans and guidance where packaging would fail an operator acceptance check.
Trucking and last mile
Pre-carriage, on-carriage, air-ride equipment where needed, low-loaders and permitted road routes for outsize crates.
Permits and slots
Overflight, landing and cabotage permits, airport slots, night curfew handling and diplomatic clearances where they apply.
Temperature and monitoring
Cool storage, active or passive units, cool dollies, data loggers and shock or tilt indicators read at each handover.
Supervision and escorts
Loading supervision, attendants for live cargo, security escorts and sealed handovers for high-value consignments.
Clearance background
What the air waybill does
The air waybill, or AWB, is the contract of carriage between shipper and carrier. It confirms receipt of the goods, names shipper, consignee, description, piece count, weight and agreed routing, and carries the eleven-digit number under which the shipment appears in every system. Unlike an ocean bill of lading it is not a document of title: it conveys no ownership, and the goods are released to the named consignee.
It is also the basis of liability. Entries for weight and declared value feed directly into what can be recovered after damage, which is why a vague description costs more than the minute it saves.
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Master AWB and house AWB
When a forwarder consolidates several shipments into one load, a second layer appears. The master AWB runs between carrier and forwarder and covers the entire load. For each individual shipper the forwarder additionally issues a house AWB describing that shipment inside the consolidation.
On a charter this matters because the load almost always consists of several shipments. Customs and handling work with the master number, your customer tracks the house number, and the manifest ties the two together. A house number missing from the manifest holds the whole flight.
Customs on charter versus scheduled freight
The rules are identical; the timeline is not. On scheduled freight everything is measured against the carrier's cut-off, and a missed cut-off means the next day's flight. On a charter you set the departure yourself, which makes export clearance the binding constraint and forces it to be planned backwards from the slot.
Charter adds its own quirks: export is often declared at an airport whose customs office does not work at night, the handling agent has no scheduled routine to fall back on, and a departure from a regional field usually needs the customs office notified in advance. None of it is hard; all of it needs lead time.
Why shipments get delayed
The same handful of causes recur: figures that disagree between commercial invoice, packing list and AWB; a missing or wrong commodity code; certificates of origin obtained after the fact; outstanding export licences for dual-use goods; incomplete dangerous goods declarations; and consignees who are not yet registered to import in the destination country.
Then comes the regulatory track no document shortens: overflight and landing permits run in parallel with their own lead times. We treat those separately in the knowledge article on overflight and landing permits; the document chain here and the permit chain there have to line up in time.
Our role
We coordinate the chain: we tell you which papers the selected operator and the handling agent need and by when, we bring forwarder, customs agent and handling into one conversation, and we raise the alarm early when a document threatens the slot.
What we do not do: we are not a customs broker, we file no declarations and we do not act as your representative before customs authorities. Those tasks stay with your forwarder or an appointed customs service provider.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Answers from daily desk work: payload, ready date, permits and cost drivers.
See all questionsThe AWB is the contract of carriage between shipper and carrier. It confirms receipt of the goods, describes the shipment and carries the number under which it is tracked, declared and released.
The master AWB covers the whole load between carrier and forwarder. The house AWB is issued by the forwarder for each individual shipper inside a consolidation.
No. It is not negotiable like an ocean bill of lading. The goods are released to the consignee named on the AWB, and the document itself is not traded.
Yes, the same declarations and the same evidence. The difference is scheduling: because you set the departure, export clearance has to be planned backwards from the slot.
Typically a commercial invoice, packing list, export declaration and the AWB, plus certificates of origin, licences or a dangerous goods declaration depending on the commodity. Your forwarder defines the exact set.
No. We coordinate deadlines and the flow of documents between all parties, but we do not act as a customs broker and file no customs declarations.
Talk to the desk
Urgent? Call the desk directly.
AOG and time-critical requirements can be raised by phone or email at any time — no account required.
- Phone
- +49 172 6111193
- Availability
- 24/7 for AOG and time-critical
- First response
- Usually within 60 minutes
Keep reading
Related services
Knowledge
- What is a cargo charter?How ad-hoc, full, part and series cargo charter work: pricing drivers, lead times, documen
- What is ACMI / wet lease?ACMI, wet lease, damp and dry lease compared: cost split, guaranteed block hours, regulato
- Cargo charter quote requirementsWhat a charter desk needs to price a freighter: route, ready date, weights, dimensions per
- Cargo charter cost driversCost guide
- How a cargo charter booking worksProcess guide
- Overflight and landing permits for cargo chartersCompliance guide
- Outsize and heavy air cargoLoading guide
- Temperature controlled air freightCool chain guide
Move the next mission
Send the requirement and the desk will come back with sourced options, or call now if it is time-critical.