What Traps to Avoid When Shipping Air Freight to Middle East & Choosing a Freight Forwarder
I just started in foreign trade and wanted to find a freight forwarder for air freight to Middle East. What traps should you watch out for when working with a forwarder? Actually, there aren’t too many traps—it all depends on whether you find the right partner.
Sometimes you contact a freight forwarder and find they seem very busy and don’t have much time to explain everything in detail.
At this point, you should understand: this is often a very professional forwarder, and the contact person is very experienced. Why? Because their time is valuable. They don’t have time for overly detailed services.
But sometimes you meet salespeople who talk a lot, explain air freight to Middle East clearly, and have plenty of time for you. Then you need to be careful. They might know some basics, but their resources and strength are limited. They can’t offer you competitive prices to help you close deals. Their only goal is to get your order—because they really need it.
Many forwarders doing air freight to Middle East are struggling right now. They can’t decide whether to quit or wait for the peak season.
The current cargo volume is just a drop in the bucket. They’re not bankrupt, but many couldn’t survive the first half of the year without better business. At the start of this year, people kept saying: after February, March will be better; after March, April will be better. But May, June, July, August passed, and orders for air freight to Middle East are still weak.
Many forwarders are trying to hold space while canceling capacity last minute, waiting for a big boom like last year. But reality is cruel. Some top e-cigarette suppliers said this is actually a normal market.
In the air freight to Middle East market, some businesses decline while others stay strong. It all depends on which forwarder is better in this competitive market. What makes the difference? Past experience and real strength.
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Take DL Logistics as an example. We regularly buy 20 board positions per week from 2 major airlines. Other so-called top direct agents usually only have 2–3 board positions per week. We have 10 times their capacity. With these resources and advantages, we’ve become one of the top 5 companies for air freight to Middle East.
Nowadays, every forwarder has loud advertisements. You can’t tell the real situation just by ads. So I usually don’t talk much—I just tell customers: come visit our company.
Many customers are doubtful at first, treating us like any ordinary forwarder. But after visiting and seeing our real strength, they feel safe and sign contracts right away.
DL Logistics is one of the top 5 for air freight to Middle East.
We hold 20 weekly board positions from 2 major airlines.
We have priority clearance at UAE airports.
We can pick up goods in advance at the warehouse.
Local logistics staff answer calls at 2 AM.
Deliveries sent in the morning arrive at noon.
Deliveries sent at noon arrive in the afternoon.
Truly one of the top 5 forwarders.
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DL Air Freight to Middle East: everyone who uses it says it’s smooth.