An air bill, properly called an air waybill (AWB), is the shipping document that moves with cargo transported by aircraft. It does three jobs at once: it is the carrier’s receipt proving your goods were accepted in good condition, the contract setting the terms of transport, and the handling guide telling everyone in the chain how to store and deliver the freight.1Wikipedia. Air Waybill One thing it is not: a document of title. Unlike an ocean bill of lading, an air bill is non-negotiable. You cannot transfer ownership of the cargo by endorsing it to someone else, and the consignee named on the document collects the freight at the destination airport using identification, not by producing the original.
What the Air Bill Actually Does for You
When the carrier signs the air bill, it acknowledges receiving the freight in apparent good order.2Maersk. Air Waybill Basics: Guide to its Functions and Usage That signed receipt is what you point to later if the cargo arrives damaged, because it establishes the condition at handoff. The same document records the storage conditions, temperature range, and delivery instructions the freight needs, and the weight, dimensions, and commodity description on it drive the freight charges and any insurance requirements the carrier applies.
Because the air bill is a transport contract rather than a title document, the terms printed on it bind both sides. The declared values, the handling codes, the routing: these determine what the carrier is responsible for and what it will pay if something goes wrong.
Master vs. House Air Waybill: Which One Is Yours
There are two kinds of air bill, and the one you deal with depends on how you booked the shipment.
A Master Air Waybill (MAWB) is issued by the airline to a freight forwarder who has consolidated multiple shipments into one load. It covers the whole consolidated unit, names the forwarder as the shipper, and governs the airline-forwarder relationship. One MAWB, one tracking number, one contract between the forwarder and the airline.
A House Air Waybill (HAWB) is issued by the freight forwarder to each individual shipper whose goods are inside that consolidated load. If you booked through a forwarder rather than directly with an airline, the HAWB is your document. It names you as shipper and your buyer as consignee, and it reflects the price and terms the forwarder quoted you. The forwarder maps every HAWB to the single MAWB covering the container, which is how dozens of small shipments move under one airline contract while each shipper keeps a direct contractual record with the forwarder.
What Information Goes on an Air Bill
Before the carrier can execute an air bill, you need to have specific information ready. Errors cost money to fix after the fact. UPS, for example, charges $15 per air waybill for shipper-requested changes, and up to $50 in certain regions.3UPS Air Cargo. U.S. Accessorial Rate Chart
Parties, Routing, and Cargo Description
You need the full legal names and physical addresses of both the shipper and the consignee. Routing uses the three-letter IATA airport codes for the departure and destination airports. The cargo description must give the gross weight in kilograms, the total number of packages, the dimensions of each piece, and a plain-language description of what is inside. Vague descriptions like “general merchandise” invite delays during security screening and customs inspection.
Two Declared Values
The air bill carries two separate value fields, and they do different things. The declared value for carriage sets the maximum the carrier will pay if the cargo is lost or damaged. Leaving it blank defaults you to the Montreal Convention cap of 26 Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) per kilogram, which may be far below what your goods are actually worth.4International Civil Aviation Organization. International Air Travel Liability Limits Set to Increase, Enhancing Customer Compensation The declared value for customs is the figure customs authorities use to assess duties and taxes. The two should be consistent. If the customs value is significantly lower than the carriage value, authorities may flag the shipment for under-declaration.
Chargeable Weight
Airlines bill on whichever is higher, actual gross weight or volumetric weight. The standard IATA formula for volumetric weight is length × width × height in centimeters, divided by 6,000.5IATA. Air Cargo Tariffs and Rules: What You Need to Know A big, light box of foam packaging will be charged on its volume because it takes up cargo space the airline cannot sell to anyone else. Express couriers like DHL, FedEx, and UPS sometimes use a divisor of 5,000 instead, which produces a higher volumetric weight. Confirm which divisor your carrier applies before declaring weight.
Special Handling and Dangerous Goods
Shipments needing specific treatment carry three-letter IATA handling codes on the air bill. PER is perishable cargo, AVI is live animals, PIL is pharmaceuticals, ICE is dry ice, and CAO flags items restricted to cargo aircraft only. These codes trigger the storage, loading, and temperature protocols that follow the freight through its journey.
Dangerous goods need more than the air bill. Shippers must complete a separate Shipper’s Declaration for Dangerous Goods (DGD) certifying that the cargo has been packed, labeled, and declared under the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations.6IATA. DG Shippers Declaration (DGD) and e-DGD The air bill alone is not enough for hazardous materials. Missing or inaccurate DGDs can get the shipment refused and expose the shipper to penalties.
Carrier Liability Under the Montreal Convention
International air cargo moves under the Montreal Convention of 1999, which covers the vast majority of international air routes. When it applies, the carrier’s liability for lost, damaged, or delayed cargo is capped at 26 SDRs per kilogram, a limit that took effect on December 28, 2024, up from the previous 22 SDRs.4International Civil Aviation Organization. International Air Travel Liability Limits Set to Increase, Enhancing Customer Compensation At current rates, 26 SDRs is roughly $35 USD per kilogram. If your goods are worth more than that per kilo, the default limit will not make you whole, and declaring a higher value for carriage on the air bill is the only way to lift the cap.
When a shipment moves across multiple connecting airlines, the Convention treats the whole journey as a single operation. The shipper can file against the first carrier, the consignee can go after the last, and either can pursue whichever carrier was handling the freight when the loss or damage happened. The carriers are jointly and severally liable, so you can collect the full amount from any one of them.7International Air Transport Association. Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air (MC99)
Claim Deadlines That Can Wipe Out Your Right to Compensation
The Montreal Convention sets strict windows for cargo claims. Miss them and your right to recover is gone.
- Damaged cargo: a written complaint must reach the carrier within 14 days of receiving the shipment.8International Air Transport Association. Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air (MC99) – Article 31
- Delayed cargo: the complaint must reach the carrier within 21 days of the date the cargo was placed at the consignee’s disposal.8International Air Transport Association. Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air (MC99) – Article 31
- Lawsuit filing: a legal action must be brought within two years from the date of arrival, the date the aircraft should have arrived, or the date carriage stopped. Miss this window and your right to damages is extinguished with no exceptions.9U.S. Department of State. Montreal Convention
This is why inspecting cargo at delivery matters. If you sign for a shipment without noting damage, then discover it weeks later, you may already be past the 14-day window. Inspect freight at the airport before signing the delivery receipt, and write any visible damage directly on that copy of the air bill.
Paper Copies, AWB Numbers, and Electronic Air Waybills
A traditional paper air bill is issued in at least eight color-coded copies distributed among the carrier, the shipper, the consignee, customs, and any connecting carriers, with the pink Original 2 traveling with the shipment, the blue Original 3 going to the shipper as proof of acceptance, and the yellow Copy 4 serving as the signed delivery receipt.10ASEAN. Air Freight – Air Waybill and Accompany Documents Every copy carries the same eleven-digit AWB number: the first three digits are the airline’s IATA prefix, and the remaining eight are the serial number, with the final digit acting as a check digit for error detection. Entering that number into the carrier’s online portal returns real-time status updates.
Paper is being pushed out. IATA made the electronic air waybill (e-AWB) the default contract of carriage for all air cargo shipments starting January 1, 2019, and adoption is now over 85%. Its legal footing comes from the Montreal Convention itself, which allows cargo documentation to be produced by any means that preserves a record of the carriage. For the shipper, the practical change is that the data moves electronically between you, the forwarder, the airline, and customs systems, errors can be caught before the freight moves, and there is no risk of paper copies being lost or separated from the shipment. Airlines and forwarders in the IATA Multilateral e-AWB Agreement accept the electronic record as the sole contract, with no paper backup required at participating airports.