Air freight refers to the air transportation fee that should be charged for transporting a batch of goods from the departure airport to the destination airport.
The calculation of air freight takes into account two factors, namely the applicable freight rate for the goods and the chargeable weight of the goods.
The calculation formula is: Air freight = chargeable weight x applicable freight rate.
The freight rate (rate) refers to the fee charged by the carrier for transporting goods for the specified weight unit (or volume), which only includes the air transportation fee between airports.
Due to the large variety of air cargo and different aviation areas, the applicable freight rates for each type of cargo are different. The currency used to publish air cargo freight rates is the currency of the transportation origin, and the freight rate used is the effective freight rate on the day of filling out the freight bill, that is, the freight rate applicable during the validity period of the air cargo freight rate.
Chargeable weight refers to the weight used to calculate the air freight of goods. Since the aircraft carrying capacity is limited by the take-off gross weight and the cargo hold volume, the chargeable weight of cargo needs to consider both its volume weight and actual gross weight.
Due to the principle of “decreasing with distance” for air cargo freight rates, weight-grade freight rates are generated, and the minimum weight of weight-grade freight rates also affects the freight rates.
① Actual Gross Weight: the weight of the cargo including the cargo packaging. For high-density cargo (volume per kilogram less than 6000 cubic centimeters or 366 cubic inches, also known as heavy cargo), it should be considered that the actual gross weight may be the billable weight.
② Volume Weight: the weight converted from the volume of the cargo at a certain ratio is called volume weight. For low-density cargo (volume per kilogram exceeding 6000 cubic centimeters or 366 cubic inches, or cargo per pound exceeding 166 cubic inches, also known as “light bulky cargo”) The volumetric weight should be considered as the chargeable weight. When calculating the volume of cargo, the length of the widest, longest and highest three sides (cm) is used to calculate the volumetric weight (kgs) = cargo volume (m) / 6000.
③ Grade weight. If the weight of the cargo consigned by the shipper is close to the higher weight cut-off point, and the freight calculated using the lower freight rate of the higher weight cut-off point is lower than the freight calculated according to the applicable freight rate, the lower freight rate will be charged.
④ Selection of chargeable weight.
Usually, the higher of the actual gross weight and the volumetric weight of the cargo is used; however, when the air freight calculated according to the lower freight rate of the higher weight cut-off point is lower, the starting weight of the cargo at this higher weight cut-off point is used as the chargeable weight of the cargo. The chargeable weight of the cargo can be the actual gross weight, volumetric weight or grade weight (starting weight of the higher weight cut-off point).
⑤ Unit of chargeable weight rounding. The chargeable weight of international cargo is 0.5 Kilogram is the smallest unit. If the weight is less than 0.5 kilogram, it will be calculated as 0.5 kilogram; if it is more than 0.5 kilogram but less than 1 kilogram, it will be calculated as 1 kilogram.