Air Freight from China to the USA — the Complete Guide

Everything that determines the price, the transit time and the feasibility of a China–USA air freight shipment: the four service models, the airports and airlines, the cargo categories, and how air compares with sea and express.

The four China–USA air freight services

International air freight from China to the United States comes in four shapes, and which one you need depends entirely on the trade term agreed between the buyer and the seller:

• Airport to airport — the traditional service: a Chinese forwarder books and tenders at the Chinese airport, a US forwarder clears at the American one;
• Door to airport — factory pickup in China, uplift to the US airport, buyer clears locally;
• Airport to door — uplift from the Chinese airport, US clearance and delivery to the door; and
• Door to door — one forwarder, one price, delivered.

The level of service you buy should match the Incoterm. Sellers on FOB terms need an origin-side forwarder; buyers on EXW terms need a door-to-airport service; consignees without a US broker need airport-to-door or door-to-door.

Who moves the freight: the carriers and forwarders that dominate

A small number of very large operators control the great majority of China–USA air capacity, and most other forwarders book through them. The main names are covered in detail in our guide to the leading air freight forwarders from China to the USA.

The US destination airports

Los Angeles (LAX)

Los Angeles International is the principal US West Coast gateway and the busiest logistics hub in North America, with Long Beach, San Francisco, Seattle and Oakland in its orbit. Large volumes of US East, Midwest and Canadian traffic — both air and ocean — are flown into LAX and distributed onward, because the transport network, handling speed and customs environment there are the fastest in the country. Cargo bound for El Paso, for example, is almost always flown to LAX first and trucked onward.

Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Xi'an (via Singapore Airlines' regional network), Changsha (Hainan Airlines), Xiamen (Hainan, Cathay Dragon and China Eastern) and Tianjin (Asiana) all offer Los Angeles service.

Chicago O'Hare (ORD)

O'Hare covers more than 33 square kilometres — the area of over 360 football pitches — and is one of the largest and busiest airports in the world. Every major US carrier maintains a service centre there and more than 500 aircraft land on a typical day; UPS Airlines and American Airlines are both headquartered there. Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Shanghai and Beijing are the main Chinese origins feeding it.

New York (JFK)

New York has several international airports; air freight normally arrives at John F. Kennedy International. Hong Kong is the largest origin by tonnage, followed by Shanghai Pudong. Only about a tenth of the capacity is nonstop — Cargolux and Cathay Pacific from Hong Kong, and China Southern from Guangzhou — with the balance connecting through a US or Asian hub.

Miami (MIA)

Miami is the second-largest city in Florida and one of the most economically active in the American Southeast. Volumes from China grow by roughly ten percent a year and the routing mix is increasingly varied. Most Miami-bound cargo transits Chicago O'Hare, where the carrier's local station or agent completes the journey on a customs-bonded truck — a two-day road leg — so the consignee only clears at Miami.

Atlanta (ATL)

Atlanta is the ninth-largest metropolitan area in the United States and a major centre for the Chinese community. Most carriers complete Atlanta-bound freight through Cincinnati or Los Angeles, by air or by truck.

Detroit (DTW), Philadelphia (PHL) and Boston (BOS)

Detroit is served on an airport-to-airport basis only, with no door delivery — consignees need their own clearance agent locally. Philadelphia is served by American Airlines and Polar Air Cargo, with no nonstop from any Chinese airport. Boston is served through connecting gateways.

The airlines that lift China–USA freight

• 5Y Atlas Air — operates full-freighter charters and scheduled rotations between Chicago and Changsha, Zhengzhou and Hangzhou on behalf of Chinese e-commerce and logistics groups. Inbound aircraft arrive full; the return leg is sold as consolidated freight to fill the sector.
• PO Polar Air Cargo — a US all-cargo carrier with a pivotal position on the lane. High daily frequency, routings that transit across Asia, and pricing typically around two CNY per kg below comparable carriers — though the transit station is not always fixed at booking.
• UPS Airlines — the largest single capacity provider between China and the USA, but most of that lift carries its own express volume, and its airport-to-airport product is correspondingly thin. Serves Shanghai Pudong, Shenzhen Baoan and Hong Kong. Routings are not always fixed, and it stops accepting bookings when the peak season tightens, which delays already-booked freight.
• CZ, CA and CK — China's three big state carriers offer the most consistent service to both the US West and East Coasts, with nonstop departures from every major Chinese airport and full-freighter capacity out of Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen that can accept oversized pieces in one movement.
• AF Air France, CI China Airlines (Taiwan, China), OZ Asiana and TK Turkish Airlines — the premium all-cargo operators on the lane. Their customer base is forwarders and large shippers rather than retail consignors, and their equipment covers every major US airport.

Cargo categories and what each one needs

• General cargo — carton-packed goods that present no risk to the aircraft and clear customs on both sides without restriction;
• Chemicals and chemical-containing goods — typically semi-finished products. A rapid-cooling insulated tumbler, for example, contains a phase-change material and needs a Cargo Transportation Identification Test Report issued specifically for air transport by an approved testing institute — the sea-freight version is not accepted;
• Battery-powered products — a very wide group: balance boards, scooters, e-bikes, phones, watches, torches, LED lighting and solar street lights. Shipped out of Hong Kong they require the relevant UN 38.3 test summary and an airline acceptance check before space can be confirmed, and packaging must follow the carrier's instructions exactly;
• Oversized and out-of-gauge cargo — not every airport has an aircraft that can take it. Feasibility is worked out from the actual packed dimensions and weight against the aircraft door and floor limits, agreed with the carrier in advance. B777-300ER, B757-200SF and B747-400 freighters are the easiest types to load;
• Heavy cargo — moulds are the classic case: a single pallet can weigh a tonne while occupying little volume, so both freighter and passenger carriers compete for it and the per-kilo rate is usually lower than for general cargo;
• Palletised cargo — a few pallets are easy to accommodate; more than twenty and the pallet dimensions become critical, because different positions in the hold have different height limits. Build pallets to the airline's specification at the warehouse or the freight will be unloaded and rebuilt at the airport;
• Food — a complete export declaration pack plus the relevant inspection and quarantine certificates. Refrigerated or constant-temperature service must be confirmed with the airline at least three days before uplift. Fresh produce and live animals additionally need full US import documentation;
• Personal effects — for students, relocating families and business travellers; and
• Containerised cargo — yes, containers do fly. Christmas and Black Friday stock that would take 30 to 40 days by sea reaches the USA in one to two days by air, and a meaningful number of shippers pay the premium for exactly that reason.

Direct flights versus connecting flights

Newcomers to importing often ask why air freight takes days rather than hours. The answer is that only a minority of China–USA city pairs have a nonstop: Shanghai to Los Angeles, Guangzhou to Seattle, Beijing to Seattle-Tacoma, Beijing to San Jose, Qingdao to Los Angeles, Chengdu to Los Angeles and Shenyang to Los Angeles are among the direct lanes, and more than ten Chinese airports have US nonstops. Everything else connects.

Most China–USA air freight transits another Chinese airport or a third-country hub before the trans-Pacific sector, and not every origin connects to every US airport — the long-haul sector lands at a large US gateway and the freight is completed by truck or a regional flight. Some consignments pass through three to five airports before reaching the destination. Carriers do this for efficiency and cost, not to inconvenience anyone.

What drives the price per kilogram

China–USA air freight pricing depends on six things: the carrier, the routing, the shipping date, the origin airport, the destination airport and the nature of the cargo — plus, always, which forwarder is quoting.

• The carrier's own tariff. Each airline publishes market rates based on its own cost base and how much freight it is collecting;
• The routing. Nonstop departures cost more; multi-sector routings cost less;
• Season. Around Chinese New Year the factories close, the market empties and the aircraft still have to fly, so rates fall sharply — shippers who can move freight in that window get exceptional prices. Peak season is the mirror image: capacity is scarce and rates rise. Rates also move week to week with the market;
• The airports. Large gateways such as Pudong and Guangzhou Baiyun price higher than smaller ones, because they attract far more traffic. Chengdu to a mid-size US airport is cheaper than Shanghai to the same airport;
• The cargo. General cargo prices lower than oversized pieces and dangerous goods; and
• The forwarder. Airlines appoint several agents at each origin, each holding a different allocation at a different contracted level. The spread is real but not enormous.

How long China–USA air freight takes

Door to door — factory pickup in China to the consignee's US warehouse — the fastest consignments land in about three days, five to eight days is normal, and slow multi-sector routings can exceed ten.

Airport to airport — wheels up to wheels down — the fastest flights take around 20 hours and the slowest around eight days. Occasionally a consignment is held at a transit station for weeks because of weather, technical problems or a higher-priority uplift. When that risk matters to you, it is cheaper to send the freight by sea.

How air freight is charged

Air freight is charged per kilogram of chargeable weight: the higher of the gross weight and the volumetric weight, where the IATA standard is 1 cubic metre = 167 kg. The total is the chargeable weight multiplied by the applicable per-kilo rate for your weight break, plus fuel and security surcharges and the local charges at both ends.

To get a competitive rate, send the forwarder a packing list with the commodity, dimensions and weight of every carton. That is all a competent forwarder needs to price the shipment accurately and recommend the right routing.

How to choose the right routing

There is no passenger-style app for air freight — no platform can publish live rates and routings for cargo across more than a hundred airlines and several hundred routes. The practical method is:

• Start with proximity. Identify the airport nearest the factory and the airport nearest the consignee, and see which airlines serve that pair;
• Then widen the origin. If there is no service from the nearest airport, look at other Chinese gateways. Domestic trucking between Chinese airports is fast and cheap — Guangzhou to Beijing, Shenzhen to Shanghai, Shenzhen to Kunming, Zhengzhou to Xi'an and Shenyang to Beijing all take a day or two by road; and
• Then widen the destination. The US domestic trucking network is even denser than China's, and Los Angeles distributes to the whole country and to Vancouver. A holiday at the transit station will not hold up the freight.

Tracking your air freight

There are three ways to follow a China–USA air consignment: the airline's own cargo tracking website, your booking forwarder, and the airline's station or agent at the destination. All three can tell you where the freight is and when it is expected.

If the airline's site has not updated, ask your booking forwarder — that is the most reliable source. Flights are pushed back for weather, technical problems and higher-priority cargo more often than shippers expect, and the forwarder usually knows before the tracking system does.

Air freight versus sea freight from China to the USA

Transit time is the decisive difference. Ocean freight from a Chinese coastal port to a US West Coast port — Seattle, Portland, Oakland or San Francisco — takes 20 to 25 days, and to the East Coast — New York, Newark, New Jersey or the inland gateways via Chicago — 30 to 40 days or more. By air, the fastest flights deliver to either coast in a single day.

Cost is the second difference. A 40-foot high-cube container to a US East Coast port costs around USD 4,000 all-in. The same volume flown — roughly 70 CBM and 12 tonnes — costs in the region of USD 36,000 to 40,000. Air is roughly ten times the cost of sea for a full container. For LCL freight the picture reverses: a small, dense consignment can genuinely be cheaper by air than by sea once ocean LCL minimums and destination charges are counted.

Paperwork is the third. Air freight needs booking documents and a checked air waybill. Sea freight to the USA additionally requires AMS filing, ISF 10+2 filing and an import bond — a heavier compliance load with tight deadlines, and a missed filing attracts substantial US Customs penalties. In short: air is simple, sea is complex.

What the two share: both are international freight. Both require an export declaration to China Customs on departure and an import declaration to US Customs on arrival. Both are legitimate commercial trade channels.

Air freight versus international express to the USA

Both are international air transport, but they differ in transit time, in terms, in who they serve and in who operates them. On transit time, air freight is usually faster and more predictable, because the flight is booked in advance and the arrival window is known before the cargo is tendered. Express cannot guarantee a specific routing or arrival time — the network decides.

Air freight to US Amazon FBA warehouses

The rapid growth of Amazon, Wish, AliExpress and eBay in the United States has created a large population of Chinese and international professional sellers whose goods are made in China and delivered to US fulfilment centres. Out of that has come a distinct air freight product: customs-cleared, duties-included or duties-excluded air freight from China to a US Amazon FBA warehouse — known in the trade as FBA first-leg air freight.

The seller does not need a US entity. The consignee on the air waybill is not the seller's own company: the freight is delivered directly into the Amazon warehouse the seller designates.

The main origins are Beijing Capital, which has a nonstop to Los Angeles where a local Chinese-American broker clears the freight and UPS delivers into roughly 200 US FBA centres such as FTW1 and ONT8 — Beijing departures are mostly general cargo that can be formally declared for export, such as swimming goggles — and Hong Kong, which accepts battery-powered products. Hong Kong is faster and more stable into FBA: roughly five days from departure to warehouse delivery, against more than ten days from Beijing.