Istres earns a posting because of what MRS can do on a bad day. 117 nonstop destinations and 44 carriers give the desk somewhere to rebook when a flight goes, and 47 minutes of driving gives you time to make the replacement. Redundancy is why Istres gets called and a city with one thin airport does not.
Open · France desk · Istres
On Board Courier, Istres
A place on the courier list for Istres. Nearest usable gate MRS, 47 minutes by road, 117 scheduled nonstop destinations, and a fee agreed before you say yes.
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 inIstres, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Nearest gateMRS · Marseille
Drive to the aircraft41 km · 47 minutes
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
You are not carrying freight out of MRS, you are carrying one item as your own accompanied baggage in the cabin, under a written agreement. 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. From Istres the ground leg is 41 km, and the desk allows for traffic rather than assuming the map is right.
Getting to the aircraft from Istres
Every timing on this page comes off one measurement: 41 km of road between Istres and MRS, 47 minutes at an ordinary speed. Straight line distances are not used here, because couriers do not fly to the airport.
At 41 km the road out of Istres is predictable rather than trivial, so the offer names a leaving time and adds the traffic on top of it. Nothing else is close enough to Istres to be useful. MRS, 47 minutes away, carries every assignment from here, and its 117 destinations are the ceiling.
| IATA | Airport | By road | Driving time | Nonstop |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MRS | Marseille Provence | 41 km | 47 minutes | 117 |
Istres is a city of 44,000 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
Reach, measured properly. MRS serves 117 airports without a change, across 33 countries, and the routes with real frequency are the ones a courier in Istres is actually sent on.
| 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 Istres 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
These are documented facilities within reach of MRS. Listing one explains why a deadline arises near Istres; it does not say that the company is a customer.
- 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 47 minutes from Istres by road, and the sector is aerospace.
Why a courier in Istres is useful to the desk
The reason Istres has a page is redundancy. When a flight cancels the consignment does not, and a desk with couriers in Istres as well as the big hubs has a second person who can reach MRS and take the rebooked departure.
The Emirates are reached from MRS with a change, and this page says so rather than glossing over it. From Istres 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 Istres 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 Istres
Martigues13 km away, MRS in 31 minutesArles34 km away, MRS in 1 hourAix-en-Provence37 km away, MRS in 33 minutesMarseille40 km away, MRS in 30 minutesAvignon50 km away, MRS in 1 hour 6 minutesAubagne53 km away, MRS in 46 minutesNîmes62 km away, MRS in 1 hour 18 minutesToulon88 km away, MRS in 1 hour 14 minutesMontpellier90 km away, MRS in 1 hour 54 minutesHyères102 km away, MRS in 1 hour 30 minutesFréjus141 km away, NCE in 56 minutesBéziers144 km away, TLS in 2 hours 8 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 47 minutes 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 Istres list
01How far is Istres from MRS?
41 km by road, roughly 47 minutes. Traffic around Istres is allowed for on top of that, and the parking or the transfer at MRS is paid by the desk.
02What can I reach from Istres without a change of aircraft?
MRS serves 117 airports nonstop across 33 countries with 44 operating carriers, and counting every gate a courier in Istres 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 Istres to the Emirates: nonstop or not?
From Istres 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 Istres 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?
You do not need one to be on the Istres list. What is checked is your passport, your right to enter the country on the routing, and how fast you can be at MRS.
05Does it cost anything to apply?
It is free to apply from Istres and free to be screened. The single charge anywhere on the Istres list is the AED 199 Academy, paid once and refunded in full on top of the fee for the first assignment you complete.
06How is my fee agreed?
Nothing is charged to a courier in Istres without written agreement and nothing is taken off the fee later. What was agreed before the 47 minutes drive to MRS is what is paid.
Apply to fly out of MRS
If 47 minutes to Marseille Provence sounds like a normal drive to you, the desk would like your name on the list.
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