Dublin Airport is our primary gateway for air freight both into and out of Ireland, and wherever possible we take control of the shipment at Dublin ourselves and manage final delivery from there. Dublin handled 191,838 tonnes of air freight in 2025, around 92% of all air cargo through Irish airports, which is why it carries the widest choice of direct services and the deepest capacity. Shannon is available where a routing genuinely suits it. Next-day delivery is available throughout Ireland from our Dublin operation.

From New York JFK, air freight into Dublin runs on a daily direct service and takes 2 to 3 days door to door. From Los Angeles it is also a daily direct service, at 3 to 4 days door to door. From Shanghai it is 3 to 4 days airport to airport on an indirect routing, giving 5 to 6 days door to door, or 2 to 3 days where a seasonal direct service is running. Transit times vary with routing, airline schedule and capacity, so we confirm a realistic figure at the point of booking.

Irish airports handled 207,887 tonnes of air freight in 2025, up 9% on 2024, according to Central Statistics Office aviation statistics. Dublin handled 191,838 tonnes of that, close to 92% of the national total, and Shannon 16,022 tonnes. Cork and Ireland West Knock handled 15 and 13 tonnes respectively across the whole year. Air freight in Ireland is, in practice, air freight through Dublin.

Yes. Northern Ireland is a different customs territory from the Republic and falls under HMRC, so shipments are handled one of two ways. Cargo can arrive into Dublin and move north under a T1 transit document that we control ourselves, or it can be customs cleared in Dublin where the consignee holds an XI VAT number. Belfast can be used directly where it suits, but airlines do not serve it daily for cargo, so transit is often longer than routing through Dublin.

Economy air freight uses indirect routings and less time-sensitive capacity to move cargo at a materially lower rate than a direct service, while still taking days rather than the weeks an ocean shipment needs. It is usually the right answer when an ocean booking no longer meets the delivery date but the budget has not changed to match. Many of our Irish air freight enquiries start exactly there, and economy is the option we end up recommending more often than any other.

No. Air freight is the fastest international mode but it is not an express courier service, and a booking does not guarantee a seat on a specific flight. Transit depends on routing, airline schedule and the capacity available on the day, and it can differ by several days between a direct and an indirect routing. Peak season capacity, passenger baggage taking priority in the hold, and cargo that is too dense for standard x-ray screening all affect it. We give a realistic transit at booking rather than a best case.

The commodities we handle most often are industrial supplies, workwear and sports apparel, aircraft and engineering components, adhesives and chemical products, hair and beauty products, and repatriation shipments. We do not handle personal effects on export shipments, and prohibited goods such as explosives and radioactive materials are excluded. Beyond those restrictions, most commodities can be accommodated, subject to airline acceptance criteria.

Woodland Group files Irish import and export declarations in-house as part of the air freight service, under AEO certification, so you do not need to appoint a separate customs broker. The customs team sits alongside the Dublin air freight desk, which means one party is accountable for the freight and the entry. Customs and import requirements at destination are the single most common question we are asked on Irish air freight enquiries, and we would rather answer it before the goods move.

Yes. Every member of our Irish air freight team is IATA DGR trained, and dangerous goods are a routine part of the operation rather than an exception. Adhesives and chemical products are among the commodities we move most often out of Dublin. Send us the safety data sheet and we will confirm what can fly, on which routing, and what it will cost, before you commit to anything.

Not as standard products. Woodland Group Ireland sells express and direct services, economy air freight, consolidation, time-critical shipments and aircraft on ground support. Where a shipment genuinely needs a dedicated charter or a hand-carry courier, we will tell you that rather than sell you the nearest thing we do offer. Service selection here is driven by your delivery requirement, product value, urgency and budget, and the conversation before booking is where most of the value sits.

The main reason is the difference between direct and indirect routings, which on some lanes is several days. Beyond that, capacity constraints during peak season, passenger baggage taking priority in the hold of commercial flights, cargo that is too dense or otherwise unsuitable for standard x-ray screening, and seasonal changes to which direct services operate all move the number. Setting a realistic expectation at the outset is the single biggest thing that makes an Irish air freight move go smoothly.

Send us the lane, the gross weight and dimensions, the commodity and the date you need it there, and we will come back with a routing, a rate and a realistic transit. If the date is tight we will tell you which service level actually meets it, and if a cheaper option would still land in time we will tell you that too. For a firm quote we need dimensions rather than an estimated weight, because chargeable weight on low-density cargo is usually set by volume.