72-Hour Air Freight to Dubai: 1000 Prayer Rugs to the UAE
Here's a real story showing our fast 72-hour air freight service to the UAE.
Early Tuesday morning, Mr. Shi (a client) contacted us. His customer in the UAE had a last-minute decision to attend an exhibition and needed 1000 wool prayer rugs delivered within 72 hours. Originally, these were supposed to ship next month with a larger order, but the customer changed their mind.
Mr. Shi had no choice but to act fast, and he immediately thought of us. It was already 10 AM on Tuesday. Since Mr. Shi is a long-term client and we know each other well, a quick chat was enough. I instantly activated our emergency plan. The key steps were:
1. Getting the goods by road from the factory to our overseas warehouse.
2. Booking direct flight space to the UAE.
3. Handling customs clearance and delivery at the destination.
The 1000 wool prayer rugs were at a factory in Dongguan. Packed up, they weighed 2.3 tons. I immediately arranged a dedicated truck for direct pickup. At the same time, I secured space on a direct flight to the UAE leaving the very next day.
As the primary carrier for air freight to UAE, we've operated for years with two main routes: direct flights and connecting flights. We have 30 guaranteed pallet spaces every week just on our direct UAE flights. This means locking down flight space is super fast for us. This speed is exactly why Mr. Shi trusts us and works with us long-term. Remember, smaller freight forwarders often take orders first *before* trying to find space with a primary carrier – that extra step makes them inherently slower.
I quickly confirmed the flight space for Wednesday. By 4 PM Tuesday, our dedicated truck had already delivered the 1000 rugs to our warehouse. Our team checked the packaging and labels to make sure everything was correct. Once confirmed, the goods were sent straight to the airport for weighing, customs declaration, and other procedures.
Meanwhile, I prepared all the necessary documents: the air waybill, customs declaration forms, and the cargo manifest. The direct flight carrying the 1000 rugs took off right on schedule at noon on Wednesday and landed at Dubai Airport around 8 PM that evening.
Early Thursday morning, our local customs clearance team in the UAE had all the paperwork ready, streamlining the process as much as possible. This step might seem straightforward, but it really tests a team's experience and skill. The documents needed vary by country and product type. Our clearance and delivery team has over 20 years of experience, hundreds of staff, and handles huge volumes of diverse goods. This means we know exactly what documents are needed for different products. Smaller teams often face delays of 2-3 days because of missing or incorrect paperwork, or even customs inspections.
Within just 2 hours, the prayer rugs cleared customs! By midday Thursday, they were picked up from the customs-bonded warehouse and brought to our overseas warehouse. We have our own fleet of over 50 trucks, so delivery is super efficient. We loaded a dedicated truck that same afternoon. Since the UAE is smaller than half of Guangdong province, the truck delivered the rugs directly to the customer's exhibition site that very day.
When the customer saw the 1000 prayer rugs arrive – calculating that it took just 72 hours total from Shenzhen to the UAE – they were amazed. Such fast delivery is rare in freight forwarding. Mr. Shi gave us a big thumbs-up and said, "Next time I have cargo, I'm definitely coming back to you!"