Aalst sits inside the catchment of a working airport. Brussels handles 193 nonstop destinations and 71 countries, and the drive from the centre is 34 minutes. A courier who can be airside at BRU inside that window is worth more to the desk than a courier in a bigger city who is stuck in traffic.
On Board Courier, Aalst
On board courier work out of Aalst. You fly as a passenger, you carry one consignment, and the airport the desk puts you through is Brussels, 34 minutes from the centre.
OnBoard Courier is a United Arab Emirates company, contracted by ICSL FZE and run from Dubai. A city named on this site is a place we cover and route through, not a separate company in that city. Assignments are contracted under UAE law, and the terms are published in full under legal and policies.
What the work pays
The fee for an assignment is agreed with you in writing before you accept it. These are the figures the site publishes, and what the desk covers on top of them.
Fees vary with the lane, the notice, the waiting time and whether the return is immediate, so the desk quotes each assignment individually rather than pretending one number fits every trip. You are self-employed and there is no minimum: accept or decline whatever you like, and declining costs you nothing. Earnings are paid per delivery by bank transfer, they appear in your courier portal, and you can request a payout once the balance reaches AED 200. Apply and see the flight board.
How to start, in four steps
Apply once
One application covers every country desk. Tell us which passports you hold and where you can travel.
Verification and the Academy
Identity and background check, then a short course on customs, handovers and chain of custody.
Your first offer
The desk sends the routing, the dates and the fee in writing. You accept or decline, nothing is automatic.
Fly, hand over, get paid
Collect, board, clear customs in person, hand over against signature, and the fee is paid to your account.
The assignment
The paperwork exists before you leave Aalst. Invoice, declaration, consignee details and, where the goods need it, the permit, all prepared in Dubai and sent to you before you leave Aalst. The Gulf sector out of BRU is nonstop, so there is no connection to miss. Your job at the counter is to be calm, to answer plainly and to keep the consignment in sight.
Getting to the aircraft from Aalst
These are the gates within reach of Aalst by car. The nearest, BRU, is 40 km away, about 34 minutes, and each one is shown with what it reaches without a change of aircraft.
At 40 km the road out of Aalst is predictable rather than trivial, so the offer carries a leaving time and the traffic is allowed for on top of it. A courier in Aalst is not stuck with one board. CRL at 59 minutes carries 127 nonstop destinations of its own, which is what stops a cancellation ending an assignment.
| IATA | Airport | By road | Driving time | Nonstop |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BRU | Brussels | 40 km | 34 minutes | 193 |
| CRL | Brussels South Charleroi | 79 km | 59 minutes | 127 |
| EIN | Eindhoven | 151 km | 1 hour 50 minutes | 74 |
| RTM | Rotterdam The Hague | 173 km | 2 hours 6 minutes | 62 |
Aalst is a city of 78,000 people in Flanders, and the clock there runs 2 hours behind the Emirates in summer and 3 in winter. Road distances are measured driving routes rather than straight lines, and nonstop counts come from the scheduled route data this site publishes.
What BRU reaches without a change
Below is what Brussels actually flies, taken from the same scheduled route datthe rest of the site uses: 193 nonstop destinations, 76 carriers, ordered by average daily flights.
| IATA | City | Airport | Frequency | Operators |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MAD | Madrid | Madrid Adolfo Suárez-Barajas | about 11 departures a day | 5 operators: Brussels Airlines, Ryanair, Air Europa |
| BCN | Barcelona | Barcelona | about 11 departures a day | 4 operators: Brussels Airlines, Ryanair, Vueling |
| ALC | Alicante | Alicante | about 8 departures a day | 4 operators: Brussels Airlines, Vueling, Transavia |
| AGP | Málaga | Málaga | about 8 departures a day | 5 operators: Brussels Airlines, Ryanair, Vueling |
| FCO | Rome | Rome Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino | about 8 departures a day | 4 operators: Brussels Airlines, Ryanair, easyJet |
| CPH | Copenhagen | Copenhagen Kastrup | about 7 departures a day | 3 operators: Brussels Airlines, SAS |
| MUC | Munich | Munich | about 7 departures a day | 2 operators: Brussels Airlines |
| VIE | Vienna | Vienna Schwechat | about 7 departures a day | 2 operators: Brussels Airlines, Austrian Airlines |
| GVA | Geneva | Geneva Cointrin | about 7 departures a day | 2 operators: Brussels Airlines, easyJet |
| FRA | Frankfurt-am-Main | Frankfurt-am-Main | about 6 departures a day | 1 operator: Brussels Airlines |
Counting every airport a courier in Aalst can drive to, the combined nonstop board is 261 airports. Frequencies are average daily flights and change with the season, so the desk checks the live schedule before it offers you anything.
The industry inside this catchment
The facilities below sit inside the BRU catchment and are a matter of public record. They are named to explain why consignments leave Aalst in a hurry, and for no other reason.
- imec, Leuven. Semiconductor research and pilot lines. Research samples with review dates that do not move. It sits on BRU, which is 34 minutes from Aalst by road, and the sector is semiconductor.
- Johnson and Johnson, Beerse and Leiden. Pharmaceutical research and vaccine production. Two low country sites, two gates. It sits on BRU, which is 34 minutes from Aalst by road, and the sector is pharma.
Why a courier in Aalst is useful to the desk
A city qualifies for this list when three things are true at once: a real airport within a sensible drive, a real nonstop board on it, and something in the area worth moving. Aalst clears all three, at 34 minutes from BRU and 193 destinations.
The Gulf connection, stated plainly rather than advertised. From Aalst the Gulf is a single sector: BRU and DXB are joined nonstop, about 2 departures a day, flown by Emirates. That is roughly 6h 35m in the air over 5,150 km, and it means a consignment can leave Aalst in the evening and be in the Gulf before the next working day starts.
The nearest other cities on the Belgium list
Show the 12 closest, and how far each is from Aalst
All 21 Belgium cities are listed on the Belgium courier desk, which stays the general application for the country.
The engagement, and who we are looking for
The engagement
- Type: freelance, self-employed. You are an independent courier accepting individual assignments, not an employee, and you decide which ones you take.
- Where it runs: assignments are flown out of BRU and the other airports listed above, between Belgium and wherever the consignment is going, with the return leg agreed per mission.
- Hours: variable. An assignment is a single trip, not a shift or a roster.
- How you are paid: a fee per completed assignment, agreed in writing before you accept it. The fees published on this site run from AED 1,200 for a document pouch to AED 2,000 for a cooled medical consignment, and the figure for your assignment reflects the lane, the notice, the waiting time and whether the return is immediate.
- What the desk pays: the flight, the transfers and, where the routing needs it, the hotel. A courier never pays for the ticket and never fronts the fare.
- Applying is free. No payment is required to apply, to be screened or to be placed on the courier list. The Academy costs AED 199, paid once, and is returned in full on top of the fee for your first completed assignment. It is the only payment a courier ever makes to us.
What we look for
- A passport with comfortable remaining validity and free pages, and the right to enter the country on the routing. The desk checks the visa position for your specific passport before any assignment is offered.
- A clean background check and a willingness to be verified. Couriers carry other people’s property.
- Availability at short notice, and a realistic view of the 34 minutes drive to BRU. Most assignments are confirmed hours, not days, before departure.
- Presentable, calm and articulate at a customs counter. The consignment is only as smooth as the person carrying it.
- A working phone, reachable on the number you gave us, for the whole assignment.
What we provide
- The ticket. Always. A courier never pays for the flight and never fronts the fare.
- The paperwork, prepared before you reach BRU, and a named contact at the desk on both ends.
- A briefing on the consignment, the consignee and what the customs position at the far end looks like.
- A fee per completed assignment, agreed with you in advance and paid by bank transfer after the handover.
Questions about the Aalst list
01How far is Aalst from BRU?
It is 34 minutes by car, 40 km on the road. Traffic around Aalst is allowed for separately, and the parking or the transfer at BRU is paid by the desk.
02What can I reach from Aalst without a change of aircraft?
BRU serves 193 airports nonstop across 71 countries with 76 operating carriers, and counting every gate a courier in Aalst can drive to, the combined nonstop board is 261 airports. That is the practical range of a single assignment from here before anybody has to connect.
03Getting from Aalst to the Emirates: nonstop or not?
From Aalst the Gulf is a single sector: BRU and DXB are joined nonstop, about 2 departures a day, flown by Emirates. That is roughly 6h 35m in the air over 5,150 km, and it means a consignment can leave Aalst in the evening and be in the Gulf before the next working day starts.
04Do I have to live in the UAE to be on this list?
No. What is checked is your passport, your right to enter the country on the routing, and how quickly you can reach BRU from Aalst.
05Does it cost anything to apply?
No. Screening costs nothing and the Aalst list costs nothing. The AED 199 Academy is paid once and refunded on top of your first completed assignment fee.
06How is my fee agreed?
What you are paid is agreed in writing before you leave Aalst and is not adjusted afterwards. Waiting time and the return leg into Aalst are inside that figure rather than extra to it.
Apply to fly out of BRU
A five minute form, a background check and a short course, and you are somebody the desk can call when a consignment has to leave Aalst today.
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