Air Freight Imports: What Changes in Operations

Brazil handled 82,000 tonnes of international air cargo in August 2026, 8.6% more than the same month a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Ports and Airports. Viracopos alone, the country’s largest cargo terminal by volume, grew 11.5% in the first half of the year. For an operations manager at a freight forwarder whose team was built around ocean freight, that growth means air shipments landing on the desk more often, handled by a team that needs to operate a mode with different documents, terminals and timelines.

The most common mistake is treating air freight as ocean freight with a faster vessel, changing only the mode field in the system. The transport document is different, the cargo terminal is different, freight calculation follows a different logic, and several ocean-specific charges simply don’t apply. Each of those differences is covered below.

The AWB replaces the bill of lading, and the document rules change

In ocean freight, the transport document is the bill of lading (B/L), a negotiable title that represents possession of the goods. In air freight, the equivalent is the AWB (Air Waybill), a transport receipt and contract between the shipper and the airline, without the negotiable character of the B/L and without transferring possession of the cargo in the same way.

This changes the document review workflow. An operator accustomed to reviewing B/L drafts, checking endorsement clauses and consignee details, needs to understand that the AWB has different fields and serves a different legal purpose. The AWB covers the airport-to-airport leg, and the fields that matter are the airport of departure, the airport of destination, the cargo description with weight and volume, and the shipper and consignee data.

Since 2019, the e-AWB has been IATA’s standard for international air transport. The electronic document replaced the paper original on most routes, eliminating the need to send physical copies by courier. Review happens on screen, and the operator needs access to the airline’s or consolidator’s system to consult the document.

MAWB and HAWB follow the MBL and HBL logic, with different obligations

Air cargo consolidation works with the same structure as ocean: a master document and one or more house documents. The airline issues the MAWB (Master Air Waybill) to the consolidating agent, who groups shipments from multiple shippers into a single lot. The agent then issues a HAWB (House Air Waybill) for each individual shipper.

The difference lies in who can issue each document. In air freight, the agent issuing a HAWB must be IATA-accredited or operate as a co-loader under an accredited agent. In ocean freight, any freight forwarder can issue an HBL without that requirement. For the operations manager, the key point is knowing whether the forwarder is the direct consolidator or operates through a co-loader, because that defines who holds the MAWB, who controls the space booking and who is accountable to the airline.

When the forwarder operates as a co-loader, it issues the HAWB, but the MAWB belongs to the IATA agent that ran the consolidation. Any change to the shipment, such as a flight change or data correction, must go through the consolidating agent. The manager needs the team to understand this flow clearly, because in ocean freight the forwarder typically has more autonomy over booking amendments.

The cargo terminal replaces the port, and storage follows a different dynamic

In ocean freight, imported cargo goes to a bonded warehouse at the port or an inland container depot. In air freight, the cargo goes to the air cargo terminal (known in Brazil as TECA, Terminal de Carga Aérea), inside the airport complex. Brazil’s main air cargo terminals for imports are Viracopos (Campinas), Guarulhos (São Paulo), Galeão (Rio de Janeiro) and Manaus. Viracopos handles 37% of the FOB value of air cargo imported into the country, according to the terminal’s administration.

At the cargo terminal, goods arrive on pallets, in air containers (ULDs) or loose, and storage is charged by weight or volume. Without ocean containers, there’s no container demurrage. The equivalent charge is terminal storage, which starts accruing from the moment the cargo arrives and increases by time bracket, similar to bonded warehouse storage at a seaport but under its own rate structure.

The maximum dwell time at the cargo terminal is 90 days, the same as at a bonded port warehouse. After that period, Brazil’s Federal Revenue Service (Receita Federal) may auction the goods. Terminal storage costs climb quickly, and operations that leave cargo sitting for more than one or two weeks accumulate costs that eat into the shipment’s margin. The speed advantage of air freight disappears when the cargo sits at the terminal waiting for customs clearance.

Customs clearance at the airport is faster, but the margin for error shrinks

Customs clearance for air cargo at Brazilian airports is typically faster than at seaports. An import that falls into the green channel can be released within hours. When there are no tax or documentary requirements, the entire process is usually completed within a week.

That speed compresses the tolerance window for errors. In ocean freight, cargo spends weeks in transit, giving the operator time to correct data in the import declaration before the goods arrive. In air freight, the cargo can be at the terminal two days after departure. If the documentation is not ready, storage charges start accruing while the operator sorts out the problem. What gets resolved during ocean transit becomes storage cost in air freight.

The red channel, which requires physical inspection, is proportionally more penalizing in air freight. The inspection itself may take the same amount of time, but because the total air freight cycle is much shorter, the relative impact is larger. One day sitting at the cargo terminal weighs more than one day at the port when the entire process was supposed to take a week. Cargo arrival at the bonded terminal is the milestone that triggers costs in ocean freight; in air freight, arrival at the cargo terminal plays the same role, and the clock moves faster.

One regulatory difference that simplifies the workflow: air freight does not require the CE Mercante registration. The CE Mercante is a mandatory Merchant Marine registration for goods transported by sea, and correcting it is one of the most common sources of delay in ocean imports in Brazil. In air freight, this registration does not apply, which removes an entire process step and the errors associated with it.

Volumetric weight drives the cost, and the calculation differs from ocean

In ocean freight, cost is calculated per container (FCL) or by cubic meter and weight (LCL), using the ratio 1,000 (1 m³ = 1,000 kg). In air freight, the calculation uses the factor 6,000: divide the volume in cubic centimeters by 6,000 to get the volumetric weight in kilograms. The airline charges whichever is greater, the actual weight or the volumetric weight.

Verifying the weight and dimensions of the cargo is as much a part of the operational workflow as checking the document. A measurement error results in freight charged at a higher volumetric weight than the actual, and the difference only surfaces when the airline’s invoice arrives. An operator used to ocean freight thinks in CBM and TEU; in air freight, the central concept is chargeable weight, and the relationship between volume and weight has a much larger impact on the final cost.

Air freight surcharges are also different. In ocean, the forwarder works with BAF, THC, ISPS and a list of surcharges that varies by carrier and route. In air freight, the main surcharges are the fuel surcharge and the security surcharge, both applied to the chargeable weight. The structure is leaner, but the team needs to know which surcharges apply and how they feed into the shipment’s cost calculation.

One relevant saving: AFRMM (Adicional ao Frete para Renovação da Marinha Mercante), Brazil’s Merchant Marine surcharge, applies only to ocean freight at a rate of 8% for deep-sea navigation. In air freight, this charge does not apply, directly reducing the total cost of the import process.

The team needs a dedicated workflow for air freight

An operations manager receiving air freight processes for the first time tends to slot them into the ocean workflow, changing only the mode in the system. That shortcut holds until the first problem: an operator waiting for the B/L draft when they should be reviewing the AWB, storage costs climbing because no one tracked the terminal deadline, or a cost calculated with the wrong weight-to-volume ratio.

Air freight needs its own checklist. The operational milestones are different: space booking with the airline or consolidating agent, HAWB issuance or review, flight tracking, arrival at the cargo terminal, import declaration filing, customs clearance, release and delivery. The window between booking confirmation and cargo arrival can be two to three days on direct routes, which means all documentation must be ready before departure, because there will be no weeks of transit time to sort out pending issues.

An operator who understands the AWB as a transport receipt (without the negotiable character of the B/L), who knows the cargo terminal charges by weight and volume, and who recognizes that the green channel can release cargo the same day, runs the air process with the urgency it demands. Ocean experience helps with the general import flow, but the details that determine whether the shipment succeeds are mode-specific.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between MAWB and HAWB?

The MAWB (Master Air Waybill) is issued by the airline to the consolidating agent and covers the entire lot of cargo consolidated into a single shipment. The HAWB (House Air Waybill) is issued by the freight forwarder for each individual importer, identifying the specific cargo within the consolidation. The importer receives the HAWB; the MAWB stays between the airline and the agent.

When does it make sense to import by air instead of ocean?

Air freight makes sense when the value of the goods is high relative to their weight, when there is a time constraint that ocean cannot meet, or when the cost of holding inventory during ocean transit exceeds the freight difference. Pharmaceuticals, electronics, spare parts and samples are categories that frequently justify the air mode. The calculation must factor in total cost, including storage, insurance and the financial cost of inventory in transit.

Is there demurrage in air freight?

Demurrage is a term associated with ocean containers. In air freight, the equivalent cost is terminal storage, charged by weight or volume from the moment the cargo arrives, with rates that increase by time bracket. The mechanism is different, but the effect is the same: idle cargo generates rising costs.

How Tier2 Cargo organizes the air process from booking to settlement

Tier2 Cargo includes the air process as one of its process types, with fields and milestones adjusted for the mode. The AWB enters as the primary document, the freight calculation follows chargeable-weight logic, and the operational milestones adapt to the air workflow, from space booking to customs clearance and delivery. Profit in three stages, forecast at quoting, updated at invoicing and confirmed at settlement, works the same way as in ocean, allowing the manager to compare profitability between air and ocean shipments within the same system.

For the operations team, the advantage is recording the AWB, costs and dates in the same freight forwarding system used for ocean processes, without needing a parallel spreadsheet to manage air freight. The manager sees the entire operation in one place.

Learn about Tier2 Cargo or get in touch.

Air cargo volume in Brazil is growing above 6% per year. A forwarder that already has the air workflow in place absorbs new processes without disrupting the desk. The starting point is mapping the document and timeline differences and building a mode-specific checklist with the milestones, documents and deadlines the team needs to track.