Arles sits inside the catchment of a working airport. Marseille Provence handles 117 nonstop destinations and 33 countries, and the drive from the centre is 1 hour. A courier who can be airside at MRS inside that window is worth more to the desk than a courier in a bigger city who is stuck in traffic.
Open · France desk · Arles
On Board Courier, Arles
On board courier work out of Arles. You fly as a passenger, you carry one consignment, and the airport the desk puts you through is Marseille Provence, 1 hour 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.
Based inArles, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Nearest gateMRS · Marseille
Drive to the aircraft74 km · 1 hour
Nonstop from MRS117 airports
EngagementFreelance · per assignment
Fee per assignmentAED 900 to 2,600
Apply for this position
Applying is free. Freelance · self-employed ·
posted 7 September 2026 · open until 7 March 2027
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.
Top published feeAED 2,000The highest fee the site shows for a single assignment: sealed medical samples in a cooled case, Dubai to Singapore.
Published band, per assignmentAED 900 to 2,600A document pouch to London is AED 1,200, an aircraft part to Frankfurt AED 1,500, an escorted watch on the Berlin lane AED 1,800.
What the flight costs youAED 0The desk books and pays the ticket, the transfers and, where the routing needs it, the hotel. A courier never fronts the fare.
The one payment you makeAED 199, returnedThe Academy, paid once. It comes back in full on top of the fee for your first completed assignment. Applying itself is free.
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.
You fly as a passengerOne consignment in the cabin, one handover against signature. No warehouse, no van, no round.
The desk books and pays the ticketFlight, transfers and, where the routing needs it, a hotel are booked before you leave for the airport.
Paid per assignmentA fee agreed in writing before you accept, paid to your bank account after the signature. Applying is free.
How to start, in four steps
1
Apply once
One application covers every country desk. Tell us which passports you hold and where you can travel.
2
Verification and the Academy
Identity and background check, then a short course on customs, handovers and chain of custody.
3
Your first offer
The desk sends the routing, the dates and the fee in writing. You accept or decline, nothing is automatic.
4
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 Arles. Invoice, declaration, consignee details and, where the goods need it, the permit, all prepared in Dubai and sent to you before you leave Arles. Where the routing runs through the Emirates it goes by way of LHR, on one ticket, with the connection booked long enough to be real. Your job at the counter is to be calm, to answer plainly and to keep the consignment in sight.
Getting to the aircraft from Arles
These are the gates within reach of Arles by car. The nearest, MRS, is 74 km away, about 1 hour, and each one is shown with what it reaches without a change of aircraft.
At 74 km the road out of Arles is predictable rather than trivial, so the offer carries a leaving time and the traffic is allowed for on top of it. One gate serves Arles and no other is inside a sensible drive, so the 117 nonstop destinations at MRS are the honest limit of what you can be offered.
| IATA | Airport | By road | Driving time | Nonstop |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MRS | Marseille Provence | 74 km | 1 hour | 117 |
Arles is a city of 53,000 people in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, 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 MRS reaches without a change
Below is what Marseille Provence actually flies, taken from the same scheduled route datthe rest of the site uses: 117 nonstop destinations, 44 carriers, ordered by average daily flights.
| IATA | City | Airport | Frequency | Operators |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CDG | Paris | Paris Charles de Gaulle | about 12 departures a day | 3 operators: Air France |
| ALG | Algiers | Algiers Houari Boumediene | about 7 departures a day | 3 operators: Transavia France, Air Algerie |
| BIA | Bastia/Poretta | Bastia/Poretta Bastia-Poretta | about 5 departures a day | 4 operators |
| AJA | Ajaccio/Napoléon Bonaparte | Ajaccio/Napoléon Bonaparte Ajaccio-Napoléon Bonaparte | about 5 departures a day | 3 operators |
| LHR | London | London Heathrow | about 5 departures a day | 1 operator: British Airways |
| TUN | Tunis | Tunis Carthage | about 5 departures a day | 3 operators: Transavia France, Tunisair |
| MAD | Madrid | Madrid Adolfo Suárez-Barajas | about 4 departures a day | 6 operators: Ryanair, Vueling, American Airlines |
| NTE | Nantes | Nantes Atlantique | about 4 departures a day | 2 operators: Ryanair, Transavia France |
| FSC | Figari Sud-Corse | Figari Sud-Corse | about 3 departures a day | 1 operator |
| LIS | Lisbon | Lisbon Portela | about 3 departures a day | 2 operators: Ryanair, TAP Air Portugal |
Counting every airport a courier in Arles 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 facilities below sit inside the MRS catchment and are a matter of public record. They are named to explain why consignments leave Arles in a hurry, and for no other reason.
- Airbus Helicopters, Marignane. Helicopter final assembly and the group helicopter head office. Rotorcraft AOG, frequently for offshore and medical operators who cannot wait. It sits on MRS, which is 1 hour from Arles by road, and the sector is aerospace.
Why a courier in Arles 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. Arles clears all three, at 1 hour from MRS and 117 destinations.
Nothing flies MRS to the Emirates without a stop, so here is the honest version. From Arles the best single change is London (LHR), and LHR to DXB is flown by Emirates, about 5 departures a day. Counting a normal connection that is around 10h 08m gate to gate, so an assignment between Arles 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 France list
Show the 12 closest, and how far each is from Arles
Nîmes28 km away, MRS in 1 hour 18 minutesAvignon33 km away, MRS in 1 hour 6 minutesIstres34 km away, MRS in 47 minutesMartigues46 km away, MRS in 31 minutesMontpellier61 km away, MRS in 1 hour 54 minutesAix-en-Provence68 km away, MRS in 33 minutesMarseille74 km away, MRS in 30 minutesAubagne87 km away, MRS in 46 minutesBéziers120 km away, TLS in 2 hours 8 minutesToulon122 km away, MRS in 1 hour 14 minutesHyères136 km away, MRS in 1 hour 30 minutesValence141 km away, LYS in 1 hour 28 minutes
All 81 France cities are listed on the France 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 MRS, between France 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 1 hour drive to MRS. 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 MRS, 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 Arles list
01How far is Arles from MRS?
It is 1 hour by car, 74 km on the road. Traffic around Arles is allowed for separately, and the parking or the transfer at MRS is paid by the desk.
02What can I reach from Arles without a change of aircraft?
MRS serves 117 airports nonstop across 33 countries with 44 operating carriers, and counting every gate a courier in Arles 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 Arles to the Emirates: nonstop or not?
From Arles the best single change is London (LHR), and LHR to DXB is flown by Emirates, about 5 departures a day. Counting a normal connection that is around 10h 08m gate to gate, so an assignment between Arles 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. What is checked is your passport, your right to enter the country on the routing, and how quickly you can reach MRS from Arles.
05Does it cost anything to apply?
No. Screening costs nothing and the Arles 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 Arles and is not adjusted afterwards. Waiting time and the return leg into Arles are inside that figure rather than extra to it.
Apply to fly out of MRS
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 Arles today.
Apply for this positionSee all openingsThe MRS atlas entry · The France courier desk · France country guide · All courier openings · Apply to the courier network