DL Logistics: Air Freight to Dubai Crisis Averted
When Mr. Guo needed to send a batch of medical equipment via air freight to Dubai, the freight forwarder he initially hired promised on-time delivery. However, after the goods were sent to the forwarder's designated warehouse, they couldn't be loaded onto the plane for a long time. His client in Dubai was frantic. After repeated urging from Mr. Guo, the goods finally departed reluctantly three to four days later. Later, Mr. Guo learned that the forwarder was a small company with only seven or eight employees. When the airline's cargo hold was overloaded, they removed Mr. Guo's shipment.
I told Mr. Guo that this small forwarder obtained shipping space from major consolidators and had a weak cooperative relationship with the airline. Small forwarders' shipments are the first to be dropped when airlines need to reduce cargo. In contrast, as a major consolidator, we ship large volumes of goods and are key clients of the airlines, so our shipments are rarely dropped. While we can't control airline cargo drops, the crucial thing is who can quickly come up with a backup plan afterward. Small forwarders get their shipping space through multiple layers of subcontracting, leading to unsmooth communication. With so many links, their shipments can be dropped easily—for example, if price negotiations fail, the major consolidator will simply take away their space.
We have signed an annual 1,000-pallet framework agreement with airlines and have exclusively purchased 20 pallets per week from two major airlines. We have to pay for these pallets even if we don't have goods to ship, which is a true reflection of our strength in air freight to Dubai. I told Mr. Guo about a similar case: a client once had their electronic products delayed due to high-temperature load restrictions when shipping via air freight to Dubai. I contacted the airline to explain the situation. As a key client, we received great attention from the airline, which actively coordinated a flight and arranged a morning flight the next day. The delivery deadline required by the client was met, and the client praised our professionalism highly at that time.
For Mr. Guo's medical equipment, I locked in the shipping space in a timely manner, and the goods successfully departed for Dubai on a noon flight on the third day. However, during customs clearance, Dubai Customs reported that the declaration documents were incomplete and requested additional files. Mr. Guo's goods had strict time requirements. We have a dedicated document processing team in Dubai. Thanks to our large volume of shipments via air freight to Dubai, the team handles numerous documents every day and is highly professional. The team members assisted Mr. Guo in sorting out all the required customs clearance documents, including commercial invoices, packing lists, and certificates of origin, then coordinated with the customs to speed up the clearance process.
With the operation and coordination of our team, the goods completed customs clearance and pickup procedures on the third day after arriving in Dubai, and were delivered to Mr. Guo's client's warehouse on the fourth day. This may sound simple, but ordinary forwarders do not have such local resources and can only follow routine procedures step by step. In many cases, document pre-review alone takes two to three days, and even three to four days for sensitive goods. Small forwarders sell flights; major forwarders sell ground services. The real competition in air freight to Dubai lies in the ability to control local resources. Air transportation is basically the same for everyone, but the ability to control local customs clearance time and the last-mile delivery efficiency is what truly reflects the strength of a dedicated air freight to Dubai forwarder.
DL Logistics is one of the top five companies in air freight to Middle East. We have exclusively purchased 20 pallets per week from two major airlines, have priority customs clearance channels at UAE air ports, and enjoy priority pickup rights at warehouses. Our local logistics team is available to answer calls even at 2 a.m., ensuring same-day delivery—goods sent in the morning arrive at noon, and goods sent at noon arrive in the afternoon. We are truly worthy of being one of the top five.
- DL Logistics' air freight to Middle East: everyone who uses it says it's smooth.