San Juan sits inside the catchment of a working airport. San Juan Luis Munoz Marin handles 59 nonstop destinations and 17 countries, and the drive from the centre is 23 minutes. A courier who can be airside at SJU inside that window is worth more to the desk than a courier in a bigger city who is stuck in traffic.
On Board Courier, San Juan
On board courier work out of San Juan. You fly as a passenger, you carry one consignment, and the airport the desk puts you through is San Juan Luis Munoz Marin, 23 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 San Juan. Invoice, declaration, consignee details and, where the goods need it, the permit, all prepared in Dubai and sent to you before you leave San Juan. Where the routing runs through the Emirates it goes by way of ORD, 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 San Juan
These are the gates within reach of San Juan by car. The nearest, SJU, is 17 km away, about 23 minutes, and each one is shown with what it reaches without a change of aircraft.
Short ground legs like the 23 minutes out of San Juan are what let the desk promise a same day departure without crossing its fingers. SJU is the only airport within a sensible drive of San Juan, so every assignment from here runs through it. That makes its 59 nonstop destinations the practical limit of what you can be offered.
| IATA | Airport | By road | Driving time | Nonstop |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SJU | San Juan Luis Munoz Marin | 17 km | 23 minutes | 59 |
San Juan is a city of 418,000 people in San Juan, and the clock there runs 8 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 SJU reaches without a change
Below is what San Juan Luis Munoz Marin actually flies, taken from the same scheduled route datthe rest of the site uses: 59 nonstop destinations, 25 carriers, ordered by average daily flights.
| IATA | City | Airport | Frequency | Operators |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MCO | Orlando | Orlando | about 22 departures a day | 3 operators: JetBlue, Frontier Airlines, Southwest Airlines |
| JFK | New York | New York John F Kennedy | about 11 departures a day | 2 operators: JetBlue, Delta Air Lines |
| MIA | Miami | Miami | about 10 departures a day | 4 operators: Frontier Airlines, American Airlines |
| STT | Charlotte Amalie, Harry S. Truman Airport | Charlotte Amalie, Harry S. Truman Airport Cyril E. King | about 9 departures a day | 4 operators: JetBlue |
| FLL | Fort Lauderdale | Fort Lauderdale Hollywood | about 8 departures a day | 2 operators: JetBlue, Frontier Airlines |
| EIS | Road Town | Road Town Terrance B. Lettsome | about 7 departures a day | 3 operators |
| PHL | Philadelphia | Philadelphia | about 6 departures a day | 3 operators: JetBlue, Frontier Airlines, American Airlines |
| EWR | Newark | Newark Liberty | about 6 departures a day | 2 operators: JetBlue, United Airlines |
| PUJ | Punta Cana | Punta Cana | about 6 departures a day | 3 operators: JetBlue, Frontier Airlines |
| BOS | Boston | Boston General Edward Lawrence Logan | about 6 departures a day | 2 operators: JetBlue, Delta Air Lines |
Counting every airport a courier in San Juan can drive to, the combined nonstop board is 59 airports. Frequencies are average daily flights and change with the season, so the desk checks the live schedule before it offers you anything.
What moves out of San Juan
No public industrial file exists here for San Juan, so none is claimed. Urgent hand carry demand in a city this size comes from deadlines, not from a single plant: a court filing, a machine that stopped, a batch that has to be tested.
Why a courier in San Juan 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. San Juan clears all three, at 23 minutes from SJU and 59 destinations.
Nothing flies SJU to the Emirates without a stop, so here is the honest version. From San Juan the best single change is Chicago (ORD), and ORD to AUH is flown by Etihad Airways, about 3 departures a day. Counting a normal connection that is around 20h 19m gate to gate, so an assignment between San Juan 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 Puerto Rico list
Show the 2 closest, and how far each is from San Juan
All 3 Puerto Rico cities are listed on the Puerto Rico 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 SJU, between Puerto Rico 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 23 minutes drive to SJU. 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 SJU, 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 San Juan list
01How far is San Juan from SJU?
It is 23 minutes by car, 17 km on the road. Traffic around San Juan is allowed for separately, and the parking or the transfer at SJU is paid by the desk.
02What can I reach from San Juan without a change of aircraft?
SJU serves 59 airports nonstop across 17 countries with 25 operating carriers, and counting every gate a courier in San Juan can drive to, the combined nonstop board is 59 airports. That is the practical range of a single assignment from here before anybody has to connect.
03Getting from San Juan to the Emirates: nonstop or not?
From San Juan the best single change is Chicago (ORD), and ORD to AUH is flown by Etihad Airways, about 3 departures a day. Counting a normal connection that is around 20h 19m gate to gate, so an assignment between San Juan 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 SJU from San Juan.
05Does it cost anything to apply?
No. Screening costs nothing and the San Juan 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?
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 SJU
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 San Juan today.
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