While Others Take 3–4 Days for UAE Customs Clearance, We Do It in 2 Hours
Mr. Yue, who works in the smart home industry, frequently ships goods via air freight to UAE. His freight forwarder had promised a 7-day delivery time. The initial air transport leg usually took 3–4 days without issue, but the final customs clearance and delivery often dragged on, also requiring 3–4 days. Combined with waiting time between different stages, each shipment ended up taking around 10 days. His clients grew anxious and frustrated, sometimes even threatening to return the goods. Mr. Yue tried negotiating with the forwarder several times, but nothing changed.
I explained to Mr. Yue that this is a common issue with many small and medium-sized freight forwarders from China. While they operate within a certain network domestically and have some resources to book air cargo space—which usually doesn’t take too long under normal circumstances—once the goods arrive in the UAE, these smaller forwarders often have no local resources. Gaining control over local resources isn’t something a small team of just a few people can easily achieve. So their shipments simply join the queue for customs clearance, and waiting 2–3 days is pretty standard.
We are different. As one of the top five air cargo agents in China, we ship in large volumes and have established cooperation with local customs authorities. At UAE airports, we have priority clearance channels. For urgent shipments, there’s no need to queue—clearance can be done within 2 hours. Therefore, competition in air freight to UAE really comes down to who can better integrate local resources.
This is the resource barrier created by scale. Our shipment volume is tens or even hundreds of times greater than that of ordinary forwarders. Such a large volume gives us a certain level of "influence" locally. For urgent cargo, customs can open a VIP channel once it arrives.
Last month, a domestic drone manufacturer needed to deliver 50 units to a local exhibition within 2 days. We activated our emergency process: as soon as the goods landed, they skipped the queue and immediately underwent pallet breakdown and inspection. Once all procedures were completed, a dedicated truck delivered them straight to the exhibition hall. The client was astonished at the speed—arriving a full 10 hours earlier than expected, even faster than domestic express delivery.
Moreover, our customs clearance and delivery team is both localized and large-scale. We have over a hundred employees, including 17 dedicated customs clearance specialists and several senior advisors who previously worked for local customs. This means once goods arrive at the port, we can control the pace of clearance ourselves. Small forwarders lack this capability—they usually outsource to local small agents, leading to poor communication and delays. When problems arise, responsibility often gets passed around like a "hot potato."
Last year, a client shipping surgical blades used a small forwarder for air freight to UAE. Due to outsourcing and weak operational ability, customs clearance was delayed by 6 days. This resulted not only in high demurrage charges but also significant losses for the client. Later, when they switched to us for an urgent replenishment order of the same kind, we pre-transmitted all required documents to customs and completed all preparations in advance. The goods cleared customs in less than 2 hours after landing and were delivered to the client’s designated hospital that same evening.
DL Logistics—one of the top five for air freight to Middle East—secures 20 pallet spaces weekly from two major airlines. We enjoy priority clearance channels at UAE airports, skip the queue at warehouses for pick-up, and have local logistics staff available to answer calls even at 2 AM. Shipments dispatched in the morning arrive by noon; those sent at noon arrive in the afternoon. Truly, one of the top five in name and reality.
DL Middle East Air Freight—once you try it, you’ll know how smooth it is.