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Firm quote in 15 minutes

Tell us what has to fly. We answer with a flight and a price.

Five short questions. A dispatcher replies with a named departure, the delivery hour and one fixed price, day and night.

One named courier from collection to signature
Customs cleared in person on arrival
Licensed UAE company, proper VAT invoices

Charter & private jet · arranged with licensed operators · we do not fly the aircraft

Charter and private jet, when the cabin is not enough

There is a point where a person with a seat stops being the answer. The item is a metre too long, half a tonne too heavy, classified in a way that keeps it out of a passenger cabin, or the destination has no scheduled service that lands before the deadline. Charter is what is left. We arrange it with licensed air operators and we run everything around it, the vehicle at each end, the packing, the paperwork and the permits.

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Quote by email · 24/7 · worldwide · we say plainly what we do not do

One person beats a parcel network

The freight chain is not slow because aircraft are slow, it is slow because a consignment waits at every handover. A courier removes the queues, not the kilometres.

OnBoard CourierOne person. One seat. One signature.

CollectedIn the cabin Delivered, same day / next morning

Conventional air freightA parcel in a system, every handover is a queue.

Drop-offAcceptance cut-off Build-upFlight Break-downCustoms Delivered, day 3 to 5

0h24h48h72h96h+

When a seat beats a parcel, the full comparison →

220countries and territories on the desk

500+airports a courier can be booked into

15 minfrom your message to a firm price

24/7the operations centre is awake

Three departure boards, one desk: Emirates, flydubai and Etihad for your consignment

A hand-carry is only as fast as the next departure. The desk watches three boards at once and books the one that lands first, then holds the one that leaves next.

Emirates

The night bank out of Terminal 3

Between one and four in the morning Emirates pushes back a wave of widebodies from Terminal 3 that reach Europe before the first meeting and Asia by the afternoon. For your consignment that wave is the reason a courier confirmed at eight in the evening is still delivering the next day.

Widebody only, non-stop to 140 plus cities

flydubai

The short sectors, several times a day

From Terminal 2 flydubai runs the one to five hour sectors: the Caucasus, Central Asia, East Africa, the Balkans, the subcontinent. Where a widebody leaves once a day, flydubai often leaves three times, which turns a missed slot into a ninety minute delay rather than a lost day.

Frequency is the fallback

Etihad

Abu Dhabi as the second runway

Ninety minutes down the E11, Etihad leaves from Zayed International with its own bank of departures and, for the United States, immigration cleared before boarding. When the Dubai departure for your consignment is gone, the desk looks at Abu Dhabi before it looks at tomorrow.

US preclearance at AUH

The desk holds no allegiance to a carrier. The booking goes to whichever board puts a courier at your consignment first, at a fare the quote can carry.

Every hour it waits is an hour it is not moving.

Five questions, one fixed price, a named flight. The desk answers within 15 minutes, day and night, and you decide.

Price it now How it works

What this is, and when it is the wrong answer

Charter is not a faster version of an on board courier. It is a different product with a different cost structure and a different set of failure modes. A hand-carry buys you a seat on an aircraft that was flying anyway; a charter buys you the aircraft. The first is measured in hundreds or low thousands, the second usually is not, and the gap between them is not a negotiation, it is arithmetic about fuel, crew duty time and where the aircraft has to be positioned from.

That is why the first thing we do when someone asks for a charter is check whether they actually need one. A great many charter enquiries turn out to be hand-carry jobs that were described in alarming language, and a fair number turn out to be next flight out jobs where a scheduled freighter departs in four hours. Telling you that costs us a large invoice and keeps you as a customer, which is a trade we are happy to make.

When a charter genuinely is the answer, the work splits into three parts that all have to happen at once. Someone has to find an aircraft of the right size that is legally and physically able to be where you need it, in the duty hours available. Someone has to obtain the permits, slots and handling at both ends, including any overflight clearances the routing needs. And someone has to get the consignment to the aircraft, correctly packed, correctly declared, with the loading equipment the aircraft type requires. We coordinate all three. What we do not do is operate the aircraft, that is the operator's certificate, the operator's crew and the operator's responsibility, and it always will be.

One more honest note about timing. A charter is quick once it is airborne and slow before that. Aircraft availability, crew duty, permits, slots and ground handling all take real hours, and the answer to “when can it leave” is almost never “now”. On short sectors an on board courier on the next scheduled departure regularly beats a charter door to door. We will tell you which one wins on your specific routing rather than selling you the more expensive one by reflex.

What it covers

Full freighter charter

The whole aircraft, sized to the consignment. Used when the cargo is outsize, heavy, or when nothing else is going where it needs to go.

Part charter and split charter

A share of a freighter movement. Cheaper than a full charter and faster than waiting for scheduled capacity, where the timing lines up.

Business jet for cargo and accompanied movements

For small, extremely high-value or extremely urgent consignments, and for movements that need a named person travelling with them the whole way.

AOG and technical charter

Engines, QEC kits, landing gear and the equipment that goes with them. See the dedicated AOG charter page.

Road feeder and truck-plus-charter

Sometimes the right answer is a charter into a nearby airport and a dedicated vehicle for the last three hundred kilometres. Often it is cheaper and no slower.

Permits, slots and handling

Overflight and landing permits, airport slots, ground handling and the loading equipment the aircraft type needs at both ends.

Choosing between them

Situation	Usually the right answer	Why
Under 30 kg, fits a cabin locker, scheduled service exists	On board courier	You are buying a seat, not an aircraft. Far cheaper and often faster door to door on short and medium sectors.
Too big for a cabin but under a tonne, scheduled freighter available	Next flight out on scheduled capacity	A scheduled freighter that departs before your deadline beats a charter that has to be positioned first.
Outsize, heavy, or no scheduled service that lands in time	Cargo charter	This is what charter is for. Nothing else does it.
Small, extreme value, needs a named person the whole way	Business jet with an accompanying courier	Custody and speed together, at a price that reflects both.
Aircraft on ground, part is an engine or a QEC kit	AOG charter	The downtime cost usually dwarfs the charter cost. The arithmetic is rarely close.
Dangerous goods, temperature-controlled or regulated category	Depends entirely on the classification	Some categories can charter, some need a specific operator approval, some cannot move by air at all. We check before quoting.

Where our part stops

We are not an air operator. OnBoard Courier does not hold an air operator certificate, does not own or lease aircraft and does not employ flight crew. Charter flights are performed by licensed air operators, and the operator is responsible for the operation of the aircraft. What we do is scope the requirement, source and coordinate with operators, arrange the ground and customs work at both ends, and stay accountable to you for the movement as a whole. Anyone who tells you they are both the broker and the airline on a charter enquiry is describing two different companies.

Courier or air cargo?

On board courier vs air cargo

Everything on this desk could travel Germany, UAE as air cargo instead. This is the difference a person in a seat makes.

✓ On board courier

A person in a seat

Leaves on the next available flight, often within hours of your call, 24/7.
One named courier holds the consignment from collection to signature.
Travels in the aircraft cabin wherever the airline, cargo classification and security rules permit it; the transport configuration is confirmed before booking.
No warehouse, no consolidation window, no overnight sort.
Customs cleared in person, questions answered at the counter, immediately.
Same-day delivery is realistic on most sectors out of the UAE.
Built for high-value, fragile, temperature-critical goods and originals.
Proof of delivery with signature, ID check and a photograph within minutes.
A human being you can call at any point of the journey.

✕ Air cargo & express freight

A parcel in a system

Waits for the next consolidation and space allocation, not for you.
Passes through many hands: hub, build-up, ramp, break-down, delivery agent.
Rides in the hold, frequently sitting in a warehouse overnight.
Each handover is a queue, and each queue is where hours disappear.
Cleared in a batch by a broker; one query can idle the shipment for a day.
Next day at best on most lanes, two to three days if it is held.
Chain of custody is a scan history, not a person with the box.
Signed for by whoever happens to be at the door.
Right answer for heavy, bulky or non-urgent freight, and we will say so.

To be straight about it: air cargo is not a bad service, it is a different one. It moves weight cheaply and it does that extremely well. A hand-carry buys back hours, and it is worth paying for exactly when an hour of delay costs more than a seat on a plane, which is the case far more often than most shippers assume, and far less often than most courier companies claim.

The full comparison, with costs →

Questions about charter & private jet

01How much does an air charter cost?

It depends on the aircraft type, the sector length, where the aircraft has to be positioned from, crew duty time, permits, slots and handling at both ends. There is no useful list price, and any figure quoted before those are known is a guess. Tell us the weight, the dimensions, the two airports and the deadline and you get a real number.

02How quickly can a charter depart?

Rarely within the hour, despite what the word suggests. Aircraft availability, crew duty limits, permits, slots and handling all take real time. On short sectors a courier on the next scheduled departure often arrives sooner. We will tell you which one actually wins on your routing.

03Do you operate the aircraft yourselves?

No. We do not hold an air operator certificate and we do not employ crew. Charters are flown by licensed air operators. We scope the requirement, coordinate with the operator and run everything on the ground at both ends.

04Can a courier travel with the consignment on a charter?

On many charter movements, yes, and on business jet movements it is common. It keeps the chain of custody unbroken end to end, which is often the reason the customer wanted a charter rather than freight in the first place.

05Can you charter for dangerous goods or temperature-controlled cargo?

It depends on the classification, the packaging and the operator's approvals. Some categories move readily on charter with the right operator, some require specific approvals, and some cannot move by air at all. We establish that before we quote rather than after.

06Is a private jet ever cheaper than a freighter?

For a small, very urgent consignment on a route with no freighter availability, occasionally yes, particularly where an empty positioning leg already exists. It is worth asking, and we will look for it, but it is not the usual answer.

The rest of what we do

Cargo charter AOG charter Ground transport Shipment preparation Customs & formalities All solutions →

Dubai skyline at dusk — He who does not know his past cannot make the best of his present and future, for it is from the past that we learn.
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan

Charter & private jet · 24/7

Tell us what has to move, and where it has to be

Weight, dimensions, both addresses, the classification and the real deadline. You get a fixed price, a plan and an honest answer about whether this is the right service for the job.

Request a quote → How it works →

From the operations desk

How jobs like this actually run

Illustrative cases, patterns from daily OBC work, details generalised for client confidentiality.

AOGDXB → FRA

A narrow-body grounded for a hydraulic sensor at a Frankfurt MRO line.

Collected14:10

Wheels up18:15

At the MRO line23:40

✓ Aircraft released for the morning wave.

SemiconductorSHJ → TPE

A reticle case that had to stay upright, in sight, in the cabin.

Cleanroom pickup11:20

Via a same-day connection14:45

Fab dock06:50 +1

✓ Line stoppage avoided.

EventsLAS → RUH

A show-control console after a failure during load-in.

Vendor pickup20:10

Two-leg routing23:30

Front of house07:45 +2

✓ Doors opened on time.

Times are typical for these lanes; every job gets its own named flight and timeline before you confirm.

How it moves

Through customs with the paperwork ready

Carnet, invoices, permits, prepared before the courier lands, presented in person.

Join the OBC network, become an on board courier

Every route on this site runs because somebody was willing to get on the plane with it. We are recruiting vetted couriers worldwide: we book and pay the flight, cover transfers and a hotel where an overnight is needed, and pay a fee for every completed assignment, stated in the offer before you accept it. You decide when you are available.

Flights paid
Fee per assignment
Assignments worldwide
You choose your dates
Training in our Academy

Join the OBC network now → See the open position What does an OBC earn?

Aircraft wing above the clouds — Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, three departure boards, one operations desk watching them all.
OnBoard Courier, UAE

Get a quote for this route

Tell us what has to move and where it has to be. You get a fixed price and a departure time back, usually within 15 minutes, day or night.

Request a quote

Answered by a person, 24/7. No commitment. One form, one reply.

Origin airport or city

Destination

Shipment type

Ready date & time

Who is booking

Company

What does the company do?

Your name

Phone

Email address

What is in the consignment?

Request received. We reply by email from bookings [at] onboardcourier [dot] ae, usually within 15 minutes.

Confidential · no commitment · 24/7 availability

I need to send something

Book hand-carry delivery from the UAE to anywhere in the world, and follow it in real time. Same-day departure available.

Book a shipment → Client login

I want to fly as a courier

We pay the ticket and a fee per completed assignment. You choose when you are available.

Apply as an OBC → See the open position

Where to go from here

Charter and private jet, when the cabin is not enough is one chapter of a larger network. OnBoard Courier moves time-critical consignments with vetted on-board couriers departing 24/7 from all seven UAE airports to 584 destinations across 219 countries. Choose the service that fits, classic hand-carry, AOG for grounded aircraft, medical and pharma, next flight out or high-value goods, then check entry requirements and customs by country and how an assignment actually runs, minute by minute.

Prefer to compare first? Read when a seat beats a parcel network, browse the industries we move for or scan the airlines the couriers the desk places fly with. If you travel often yourself, flying as an OnBoard Courier pays per completed assignment. For anything urgent, the fastest route is the quote form above, answered by a person, day or night.