Every shipment gets an 11-digit air waybill number as soon as the booking is confirmed. You can check it yourself, or ask us to pull the full status.
11 digits: a 3-digit airline prefix, then 8 digits. For example 000-12345678.
We answer AWB queries on WhatsApp, including outside office hours when a shipment is in transit.
Airline tracking shows short codes rather than sentences. These are the ones you will see on a China–India routing, in the order they normally appear.
| Code | What it means |
|---|---|
| FOH | Freight on hand — cargo is at the origin warehouse |
| RCS | Received from shipper — accepted by the airline |
| MAN | Manifested on a specific flight |
| DEP | Departed from the origin airport |
| ARR | Arrived at a transit or destination airport |
| RCF | Received from flight — offloaded and in the destination warehouse |
| NFD | Notified — consignee has been told the cargo is available |
| AWD | Arrival documents delivered to the broker |
| DLV | Delivered |
A shipment sitting at RCF or NFD for more than a day usually means clearance has not started — not that the cargo is lost. Nine times out of ten it is a document issue at destination.
Demurrage at Indian airports starts accruing quickly. Move on the first day, not the third.
Check the AWB shows RCF at the destination airport. Before that point, nothing can be filed and there is nothing to chase.
Your broker files the BOE on ICEGATE. If it has not been filed, the usual reasons are an unregistered AD code or a missing IEC detail.
A customs query needs a document reply the same day. An examination order means physical inspection — add two to five days.
Unpaid duty is the single most common reason cargo sits. On DDP shipments this is our job and we handle it without asking you.
Airport terminals give limited free storage. After that, daily demurrage applies and it is charged to whoever collects the cargo.
Send the number on WhatsApp. We will get the actual reason from the terminal and the broker, and tell you what it will cost to fix.
Send us the air waybill number. We will find out what is actually holding it, whether or not we booked it.