When aerospace goods needed to move from Belgium to Dublin within 24 hours, the UK land bridge looked like the obvious road route.
But post-Brexit customs rules mean there are additional formalities when moving goods between two EU member states via the UK. For a next-day delivery, those extra controls can make the difference between arriving on time and not.
A large consignment on a tight deadline
Routing through the UK would have introduced import and export formalities at both ends of the land bridge, bringing with it the risk of delays at the border. With a 24-hour delivery requirement, that wasn’t a risk we wanted to take.
The consignment itself presented another challenge. It was too large for a van solution, while road and sea transport on a route avoiding the UK would have taken days rather than hours.
Keeping the shipment within the EU
Instead, we secured space on an overnight express airfreight service from Frankfurt to Dublin.
This allowed us to keep the shipment entirely within the EU while still meeting the next-day delivery requirement.
Express airfreight capacity for larger consignments isn’t always available, and the booking had to be confirmed on the same day the enquiry came in. Once the space was secured, the goods were collected in Belgium, moved to Frankfurt and flown overnight, landing in Dublin the following day.
The fastest route on a map isn’t always the fastest route in practice.
Customs formalities, border risk and the size of the consignment all affect what’s actually achievable within a deadline. Knowing the alternatives, and being able to price and secure them quickly, is what turns a difficult brief into a delivered shipment.
Sound like something you need? Contact our aerospace specialists.