The questions clients actually ask before their first assignment, answered
without marketing language.
01Is the consignment insured?
All-risk cover on the declared value is arranged on request and confirmed in writing before collection. We do not rely on airline liability, because under the Montreal Convention that liability is a small fraction of what most courier consignments are worth.
02Can you collect outside the UAE?
Yes. Third-country assignments, collect in one country, deliver in another, are a normal part of the work, and they are routed through the fastest connection rather than automatically through Dubai. Where a courier already in the region can take it, that is what happens.
03What cannot travel with a courier?
Undeclared dangerous goods, controlled substances, weapons and weapon parts, counterfeits, unlicensed dual-use items, live animals, and anything whose parties or end use fail sanctions screening. Some regulated categories can travel with the right permit and packing; we tell you which case yours is before you pay.
04Do you handle customs at Saint-Étienne-Bouthéon (EBU)?
The courier declares the goods in person through the red channel, and where the value or the category warrants it we brief a licensed customs broker in France in advance. Duty and tax are the consignee's cost unless agreed otherwise in writing.
05Can I speak to a person during the journey?
Yes, and that is the point of the service. Our operations desk answers by email at bookings [at] onboardcourier [dot] ae for the whole assignment, and we contact you at collection, at departure, on arrival and at delivery without waiting to be asked.
06Are you an airline?
No. OnBoard Courier is a courier placement and brokerage business based in Dubai. We vet, train and insure couriers, screen consignments and buy ordinary passenger seats on scheduled flights. We operate no aircraft, hold no alliance membership and have no exclusive carrier contract, which is exactly what lets us put a courier on whichever airline departs next for Saint-Étienne.
07What do you need from me to start?
A description of the goods, the declared value, the collection address, the delivery address in Saint-Étienne and the deadline. If anything in the box is regulated, batteries, biological material, liquids, anything requiring a permit, tell us at that first message rather than later.
08Can a courier carry more than one consignment?
Only where both belong to the same client and the customs position is clean. Mixing two clients' goods under one declaration into France creates a liability neither of them agreed to, so we do not do it.
09How quickly can a courier leave for Saint-Étienne?
A vetted courier can normally be at a UAE airport within two to four hours of a confirmed booking. The real constraint is not our side, it is the next departure with a seat and a cabin allowance that fits. Because we use all seven UAE airports and buy on the open market rather than through one carrier, that next departure is usually sooner than people expect.