What the desk actually needs from Sao Paulo is proximity to a gate. An assignment appears when something has to leave São Paulo by a deadline no freight product will promise. The question is then very simple: who is close enough to CGH to check in for the next departure. From Sao Paulo that is 15 minutes of driving, which is why the city is on the list at all.
On Board Courier, Sao Paulo
Freelance hand carry work for couriers who live in Sao Paulo. CGH is 15 minutes away by road, the desk books and pays the seat, and the fee is agreed in writing before you accept.
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
Most assignments out of CGH are confirmed hours, not days, in advance. You are given the flight, the consignee and the customs position in writing, you drive to CGH, and the ticket is already paid and issued in your name. Where the routing runs through the Emirates it goes by way of GIG, on one ticket, with the connection booked long enough to be real. The handover is in person, and the fee reaches your account after it.
Getting to the aircraft from Sao Paulo
From the middle of Sao Paulo to the departure hall at CGH is 11 km of road, 15 minutes in normal conditions. Every timing the desk gives a courier in Sao Paulo starts from that number.
The ground leg from Sao Paulo barely counts as one. 15 minutes to CGH means the desk can ring you and still make a departure the same evening. Counting the second gate matters in Sao Paulo. GRU is 27 minutes from Sao Paulo with 111 nonstop destinations, so a cancellation at CGH is an inconvenience rather than the end of the assignment.
| IATA | Airport | By road | Driving time | Nonstop |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CGH | São Paulo Congonhas | 11 km | 15 minutes | 42 |
| GRU | São Paulo Guarulhos - Governador André Franco Montoro | 25 km | 27 minutes | 111 |
Sao Paulo is a city of 12.4 million people in São Paulo, and the clock there runs 7 hours behind the Emirates all year. Road distances are measured driving routes rather than straight lines, and nonstop counts come from the scheduled route data this site publishes.
What CGH reaches without a change
The board at CGH carries 42 nonstop destinations flown by 4 carriers. The table below is the busiest end of the CGH board, measured in average daily flights rather than in marketing.
| IATA | City | Airport | Frequency | Operators |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SDU | Rio de Janeiro | Rio de Janeiro Santos Dumont | about 33 departures a day | 3 operators: LATAM Brasil, LATAM, Azul |
| BSB | Brasília | Brasília Presidente Juscelino Kubistschek | about 25 departures a day | 4 operators: LATAM Brasil, GOL, LATAM |
| CNF | Belo Horizonte | Belo Horizonte Tancredo Neves | about 25 departures a day | 4 operators: LATAM Brasil, GOL, LATAM |
| POA | Porto Alegre | Porto Alegre Salgado Filho | about 24 departures a day | 4 operators: LATAM Brasil, GOL, LATAM |
| CWB | Curitiba | Curitiba Afonso Pena | about 20 departures a day | 4 operators: LATAM Brasil, GOL, LATAM |
| SSA | Salvador | Salvador Deputado Luiz Eduardo Magalhães | about 17 departures a day | 4 operators: LATAM Brasil, GOL, LATAM |
| FLN | Florianópolis | Florianópolis Hercílio Luz | about 14 departures a day | 3 operators: LATAM Brasil, GOL, LATAM |
| REC | Recife | Recife Guararapes - Gilberto Freyre | about 13 departures a day | 4 operators: LATAM Brasil, GOL, LATAM |
| GYN | Goiânia | Goiânia Santa Genoveva | about 11 departures a day | 3 operators: LATAM Brasil, GOL, LATAM |
| NVT | Navegantes | Navegantes Ministro Victor Konder | about 9 departures a day | 2 operators: LATAM Brasil, GOL |
Counting every airport a courier in Sao Paulo can drive to, the combined nonstop board is 117 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 following facilities sit in the catchment of CGH. They are public industrial geography and appear here to explain why consignments move at short notice around Sao Paulo, not as a customer list.
- Embraer, Sao Jose dos Campos. Commercial and executive jet assembly. A Brazilian line supplied largely from Europe and North America. It sits on GRU, which is 27 minutes from Sao Paulo by road, and the sector is aerospace.
Why a courier in Sao Paulo is useful to the desk
A courier based in Sao Paulo is useful to a Dubai desk for a reason that has nothing to do with Sao Paulo being famous. It is that the desk can position a person at CGH inside 15 minutes of a phone call, and CGH has somewhere to send them.
Honesty about the routing out of CGH matters more than a good headline. From Sao Paulo the best single change is Rio de Janeiro (GIG), and GIG to DXB is flown by Emirates, about one departure a day. Counting a normal connection that is around 16h 59m gate to gate, so an assignment between Sao Paulo and the Emirates is planned as a connecting itinerary and the desk books the whole thing on one ticket.
The nearest other cities on the Brazil list
Show the 12 closest, and how far each is from Sao Paulo
All 16 Brazil cities are listed on the Brazil 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 CGH and the other airports listed above, between Brazil 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 15 minutes drive to CGH. 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 CGH, 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 Sao Paulo list
01How far is Sao Paulo from CGH?
11 km, about 15 minutes by car from Sao Paulo. The desk works backwards from the bag drop at CGH, so the time it asks you to leave will look conservative and is meant to.
02What can I reach from Sao Paulo without a change of aircraft?
CGH serves 42 airports nonstop across 1 countries with 4 operating carriers, and counting every gate a courier in Sao Paulo can drive to, the combined nonstop board is 117 airports. That is the practical range of a single assignment from here before anybody has to connect.
03Getting from Sao Paulo to the Emirates: nonstop or not?
From Sao Paulo the best single change is Rio de Janeiro (GIG), and GIG to DXB is flown by Emirates, about one departure a day. Counting a normal connection that is around 16h 59m gate to gate, so an assignment between Sao Paulo and the Emirates is planned as a connecting itinerary and the desk books the whole thing on one ticket.
04Do I have to live in the UAE to be on this list?
No. OnBoard Courier is a UAE company and the desk is in Dubai, but the courier list is worldwide. Living in Sao Paulo, 15 minutes from CGH, is a qualification rather than an obstacle.
05Does it cost anything to apply?
No. There is no fee to join the Sao Paulo list and no deposit of any kind. The Academy is AED 199 once, and that AED 199 is added back on top of what you are paid for your first completed assignment.
06How is my fee agreed?
The desk sends the routing, the timing and the fee for that specific assignment in writing. You accept or decline it. Nothing is deducted or charged without your written agreement.
Apply to fly out of CGH
Apply once and you are on the list for CGH and for every other lane your passport allows. Declining an offer out of CGH costs you nothing.
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