Air transportation of e-cigarettes

In recent years, e-cigarettes are very popular in Latin America, and more and more importers will purchase e-cigarettes in China, however, there are very strict requirements for air transportation of e-cigarettes because they contain vape oil liquid and batteries. Among the air transport, if the goods involved in the restricted substances, we usually ship to Hong Kong after transport to foreign countries, because Hong Kong airlines require less documentation and certification, but since May 1, 2022, Hong Kong has banned the import of electronic cigarettes, so we can still air transport electronic cigarettes?

The answer is yes, there are three routes as follows.

Route 1. from mainland China by air
It is possible to ship e-cigarettes by air from mainland China, but the certificate required by Chinese airlines is more complicated and requires certificates for safe transport of goods of . Do not underestimate these two reports, it is very difficult to handle, because each report can only correspond to a battery, a model, a number of packages, and 12 flavors, which means that if a shipment contains different types of batteries, models, the number of packages and more than 12 flavors, it is necessary to do several reports.
To apply for this certificate, you need to provide MSDS for batteries and vape oil, UN38.3 test report, as well as photos of the goods and samples as required, and it takes 3-5 working days.
The cost of the certificate is also very expensive, about $160 per copy including a flavor, each additional flavor cost increased by $30, so if you do a set of vapor and lithium battery report, including 12 flavors, the total cost is (160 + 30 * (12 - 1))*2 = $980.

Since most of the guests purchase e-cigarettes contain different packages and flavors, they generally do not choose to export directly from mainland China to avoid the complicated process of licensing and the high cost, they will choose the following 2 channels.

Route 2. transport to Macau by air.
One of the routes is transported from mainland China to Macau and then transported abroad, through Turkish Airlines can be transported from Macau to many Latin American countries, but also only need to provide the battery and oil MSDS report. Usually it takes delivery to Shenzhen or Dongguan, and it can reach Macau in the next day, and it can reach Latin America in about 4-6 days after taking off from Macau. The advantage is that the transportation time is short, but the shipping cost will be relatively high.

Route 3: Transport to Incheon, Korea and out by air.
Another route is to transport from domestic to Shandong province, then by sea to Incheon, Korea, and then by air in Incheon. This route can reach the Latin American airport is relatively small, most guests take this route are first transported to the United States, and then from the United States and then transported to Latin America by other means, but also only need to provide MSDS reports. If delivery in Shenzhen, it will take about 2-3 days to reach Shandong, and 2-3 days to Korea by sea, and about 1-3 days to the U.S. after takeoff, the advantage is that the cost is cheap, expected to be about 30% cheaper than Macau air freight, the disadvantage is the long transportation time.

If you have the need to purchase electronic cigarettes, you can choose the suitable air freight route to transport according to the supplier and your actual situation.

Written by Mario