The Air Mail Chain

The Air Mail Chain

How does Air Mail work? What does the Air Mail chain look like?

Airmail is probably the oldest air cargo service. Generally there is one postal organisation per country. In the old days tariffs with the airlines were negotiated by the government as owner. The home carriers were and are often best positioned for the local postal organisation airmail flows. They transport the airmail to other countries, where the mail is exchanged against internationally established protocols and tariffs (see the site of UPU also).


A typical airmail chain consists of the following steps:






And in some more detail:




There are five basic differences between the airmail chain and the normal air cargo chain:

• The first basic difference between is the fact that the postal organisations themselves are fully handling the door-to-door chain, except for the real airport-airport part. Sometimes even the ramp transport to and/or from the aircraft is arranged by the postal organisation to gain handling speed, so the airline handling agent only performs loading and/or unloading of the aircraft.

• The second basic difference is the air transport document and the information and functions thereof (see next paragraph also). Air cargo uses the Air waybill, and Airmail uses the CNdoc.

• Third: airmail shipments are not booked but fly on predefined allotments

• Fourth difference is the commercial aspect of airmail (see next sheets)

• A fifth difference is the EDI message exchange for paper free exchange of information between all parties in the airmail chain. Mainly based on CARDIT (CARrier/Documents International Transport advice) and RESDIT (RESponse to Documents International Transport advice) messages, instead of FWB (Airwaybill) and FSU (Freight Status Update) messages. Right click here for the Post-airline EDI guide.

Air Cargo vs Airmail: AWB vs CNdoc

Air Cargo vs Airmail: overview of differences

Here's a quick comparison between airmail and air cargo for some key attention points:

Aspect	Airmail	Air Cargo
Documentation	- CN 38 (dispatch note) - CN 41 (label) - Simplified postal forms	- Air Waybill (AWB) - Commercial invoice, packing list, permits, etc.
Messaging	- UPU messaging (e.g., CARDIT/RESDIT) - Less integrated with IATA	- IATA messaging (e.g., FHL, FWB, FFM) - Standardized EDI formats
Handling	- Handled by postal operators - Consolidated into mailbags or containers	- Handled by freight forwarders and ground handlers - Palletized/ULD
Security	- Screened according to postal operator rules - May follow different standards per country	- Must follow strict aviation security (ICAO, EU, TSA) - Known consignor regimes
Customs	- Often simplified or deferred clearance - CN 22/CN 23 declaration forms	- Full customs clearance required - HS codes, valuation, inspection possible
Tracking	- Limited tracking - Based on postal tracking systems	- End-to-end detailed tracking (e.g., via AWB number)
Speed & Priority	- Typically lower priority than express cargo	- Can be booked as express, standard, or deferred
General appearance	- Small parcels, letters, documents - E-commerce, personal items	- Commercial goods, large volumes, time-sensitive shipments

Aircargo vs Airmail: Regulators

Here's how the regulating agencies relate to airmail and air cargo:

Aspect	Airmail	Air Cargo
Primary Regulator	UPU (Universal Postal Union)	IATA (International Air Transport Association) ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization)
Role of UPU	- Sets global postal standards - Governs international mail exchange between designated postal operators	- Not directly involved (except where postal shipments interact with air cargo rules)
Role of IATA	- Minimal direct influence - Indirect when mail moves via commercial air freight	- Sets standards for AWBs, cargo messaging (e.g., e-AWB), rates, dangerous goods, etc.
Role of ICAO	- Security and safety rules may apply through national aviation authorities	- Directly regulates air cargo safety & security via Annexes (e.g., Annex 17 – Security)
Security Regulation	- Follows postal security protocols (influenced by ICAO and national law)	- Must meet ICAO-defined standards, enforced by national authorities (e.g., TSA, EASA)
Other Authorities	- National postal regulators - Customs agencies	- National aviation authorities - Customs & border control authorities

Commercial aspects of Airmail

There are a lot of changes going on in the postal organisations today.  Nowadays many postal organisations are privatised, and negotiate the tariffs and contracts themselves.  Because they often have to deal with a high cost structure left over from the government days, tariffs are under high pressure.

At the same time, the international express companies have moved into the domain of the postal services, offering high performance and reliable door-to-door services for envelopes and parcels, with on-line tracking & tracing at competitive pricing.  In order to stay competitive with the express companies, the postal organisations will have to move towards comparable services and pricing fast.  And the airlines as their air transport suppliers, will then have to facilitate these services with tracking & tracing systems and EDI messaging if they want to keep this mail business.  Therefore IATA and UPU have set a standard for EDI messaging between all parties in the airmail chain (see previous).  Currently, the intense price competition, added with over-capacity, will sometimes lead carriers to even drop or lower fuel and security surcharges.

Future of Mail by Air (FoMbA)

This initiative began after changes in the mail and airline industry, when the transport network of mail by air was becoming less reliable and less sustainable to support growing market and regulatory demands.

The Future of Mail by Air initiative aims at transferring the traditional customer-supplier relationship between posts and air carriers into business partnership and to improve the visibility of mail in transport at a lower overall operating cost. Optimisation options for business processes are identified in the areas of sourcing, planning, handover monitoring and accounting of mail transport by air. The key optimisation option identified is to align mail and cargo processes in transport without changing the legal status of mail.

The vision is to implement paper-free transport and accounting for post-to-post, posts and ground handler, and post to carrier and border agency exchanges.  Look here on the site of IPC also.

Further information on Air Mail

For further information on the history of airmail look here on Wikipedia as well.

Also take a look at this presentation "Airmail Pick-Up Past & Present" on YouTube:

 

I invite all of you in the industry to contact me for corrections or additions, 

and who are new in the business to question me 

in order to improve the information on this site! 
 

[last updated May 19th, 2025]

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