Booking Advisements steps to follow
First step after the pricing is obtained, is to make an airline booking for the shipment and get the airline’s confirmation in order to assure space on board of an aircraft:
Airline (Master) Air Waybill number assigned Origin and (final) destination Type of goods/commodity (especially important for dangerous goods, perishables, and valuables) Flight date Flight number Weight, volume and dimensions of the shipment Number of colli Issuing agent / contact details Eventual assignment to customer (agent's) allotment
The reservation will be validated against the airline's capacity, commodity and revenue management criteria, and will be officially confirmed as soon as the booking is accepted. Now the booking process is complete. There are a few recommendations in order to assure a smooth process for the airline and the customer: Make the booking at the earliest possible stage, and ask for (and meet) the latest possible delivery time of your goods (esp. in case of dangerous goods, live animals, perishables, valuables, etc.) at the airline's handling agent Check for specific commodity restrictions with the airline or the country of destination. Do not make bookings for the same shipment at several agents or airlines; if you have to cancel do this time, also in case you are not going to use (part of) your allocation. Aircraft space is very expensive! Do not exceed allotments and/or shipment weights without consulting the airline first. Make sure you have made all the necessary security arrangements. Cargo from 'unknown shippers' or with otherwise suspicious characteristics will certainly be stopped.Preparing the shipment
In order to keep track of the different customer’s shipments from one exact address to another, the forwarder makes a House Air Waybill (HWB) for each such shipment. The House Airwaybill is the shipment contract between the end-customer and the forwarder, so basically the forwarder acts a a carrier towards the shipper. (This is also called a Non-Vessel Operating Common Carrier or NVOCC, which is a shipment consolidator or freight forwarder who does not own any vessel, but functions as a carrier by issuing its own bills of lading or air waybills and assuming responsibility for the shipments.) Next step is to make the goods ready for carriage (RFC) Correctly packed, labelled and Customs cleared for Export (if applicable), and With the right documents and security checks for air transport as the next step, as well as for incoming or import handling and clearance (if applicable) at destination.