Shipping from India to Europe and the UK: Ocean and Air Freight

Origin ports in India

Mundra (INMUN) in Gujarat loads most of Airlift’s Europe containers. Nhava Sheva (Jawaharlal Nehru Port, INNSA) on the west coast, Ennore (INENR), Chennai (INMAA), Kattupalli and Tuticorin in the southeast, Cochin (INCOK) in Kerala and Kolkata in the east are also used. Air cargo leaves mainly from Hyderabad (HYD), with Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru and Kochi.

Destination ports in the UK

Belfast (GBBEL), Northern Ireland’s main port, handles more than 70% of Northern Ireland’s seaborne trade, according to Belfast Harbour; Airlift’s Belfast containers relay at Rotterdam or Antwerp. London Gateway (GBLGP), which passed 3 million TEU in 2025, and Southampton (GBSOU) take mainline vessels; Felixstowe (GBFXT) and London are the UK’s two largest container ports by tonnage in the Department for Transport’s 2025 statistics. On Airlift’s shipments, Liverpool and Teesport containers relayed at Rotterdam or London Gateway.

Destination ports in the EU

North Sea: Rotterdam (NLRTM), which handled 14.2 million TEU in 2025, Antwerp-Bruges (BEANR) and Hamburg (DEHAM), Germany’s largest seaport at 8.3 million TEU in 2025. Baltic: Gdańsk (PLGDN), whose Baltic Hub is the largest container terminal on the Baltic Sea, Gdynia (PLGDY) and Szczecin. Mediterranean: Valencia (ESVLC), where Valenciaport handled a record 5.66 million TEU in 2025, and Barcelona (ESBCN), plus La Spezia, Bari and Piraeus. Adriatic: Koper (SIKOP) in Slovenia, the Adriatic’s leading container port with a record 1.27 million TEU in 2025; cargo for Austria, Hungary or Czechia continues inland by rail or truck.

Top commodities (by volume)

• Polypropylene woven sacks and flexible intermediate bulk containers (FIBCs)
• Garments and home textiles
• Iron and steel castings and engineering parts
• Food and farm products

Also handled

Specialty chemicals, ceramics, furniture, carpets and household goods.

At origin: India

• Importer Exporter Code (IEC) from the DGFT: required for any export from India.
• Shipping bill filed on ICEGATE (Indian Customs EDI) with the commercial invoice and packing list; customs issues the Let Export Order after assessment and any examination.
• Proof of origin: if the UK importer will claim the UK–India trade agreement rate, agree in advance whether the claim rests on an origin declaration on the invoice, a certificate of origin from an Indian issuing authority, or the importer’s own knowledge. Airlift’s branches coordinate the documents the buyer asks for.

United Kingdom

• EORI: an importer bringing goods into Great Britain needs an EORI number starting with GB; declarations in Northern Ireland usually need one starting with XI (or an EU EORI).
• Declarations: all UK import declarations are made on HMRC’s Customs Declaration Service (CDS), normally by a customs agent acting for the importer.
• Safety and security: for containers by sea, an entry summary declaration (ENS) must reach HMRC’s S&S GB service at least 24 hours before loading at the port of departure. It is the responsibility of the party that issues the bill of lading, normally the shipping line; another party may file with the carrier’s knowledge and consent.
• Duty: look up the commodity code and rate on the UK Trade Tariff. The UK–India Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, signed on July 24, 2025, entered into force on July 15, 2026. India’s government says it gives Indian goods duty-free access on 99% of UK tariff lines. To claim it, the goods must meet the agreement’s rules of origin, and the importer’s declaration cites an origin declaration, a certificate of origin or importer’s knowledge. India also stays in the UK’s Developing Countries Trading Scheme until July 15, 2028.
• Import VAT: charged at the same rate as on a UK supply, 20% at the standard rate. VAT-registered importers can account for it on their VAT return through postponed VAT accounting instead of paying at the border.
• Northern Ireland (Belfast): goods from India are declared either “not at risk” of moving into the EU, paying the UK duty, or “at risk”, paying the EU duty. Goods are automatically “at risk” where the EU rate is higher than the UK rate by 3 percentage points or more. To declare goods “not at risk”, the importer must be authorized under the UK Internal Market Scheme (UKIMS); otherwise they are treated as “at risk”. UK agreement preferences, including the UK–India rate, apply only to goods declared “not at risk”, and goods entering Northern Ireland need an ICS2 entry summary declaration, not S&S GB.

European Union

• EORI: every business established in the EU that imports needs an EORI number, and non-EU businesses need one to lodge customs declarations or entry summary declarations themselves.
• Advance cargo data (ICS2): every container bound for the EU needs an entry summary declaration in the Import Control System 2 at least 24 hours before it is loaded at the Indian port. Carriers moved their ocean filings to ICS2 by December 4, 2024, and forwarders and NVOCCs that issue house bills of lading had to file the house-level data in ICS2 from April 1, 2025.
• Duty: rates come from the EU’s Common Customs Tariff; the TARIC database shows the rate and any measures for each commodity code. Import VAT is charged in the country of import at that country’s rate (for example 23% in Poland, 21% in the Netherlands and Spain and 19% in Germany).
• GSP: India is in the EU’s standard Generalised Scheme of Preferences, which lowers duty on many goods. For 2026 the EU has graduated India out of GSP in several product sections, so those goods pay the full rate, including mineral products, chemicals, plastics, rubber, textiles (chapters 50–60), stone and ceramics, iron and steel and other base metals, and machinery. A new GSP regulation replaces the current one from January 1, 2027, and may change which sections India is graduated from, so check the section for your goods.
• EU–India free trade agreement: negotiations were concluded on January 27, 2026, and in September 2026 the Commission proposed that the Council approve signature. As of October 2026 the agreement is not signed or in force, so it gives no duty reduction yet.

Product rules: CBAM, EUDR, REACH and CE marking

• CBAM (EU): since January 1, 2026, importing iron and steel, aluminum, cement, fertilizers, hydrogen or electricity into the EU requires authorized CBAM declarant status, unless the importer stays under the 50-tonne annual threshold for these goods (hydrogen and electricity excluded). The first annual CBAM declaration, for 2026 imports, is due by September 30, 2027, and certificate sales start on February 1, 2027. Coverage depends on the CN code, so check castings, forgings and other steel articles before you ship; the importer will need emissions data from the Indian producer.
• UK CBAM starts on January 1, 2027, for aluminum, cement, fertilizer, hydrogen and iron and steel, with registration triggered at £50,000 of CBAM goods in 12 months.
• EUDR (EU deforestation regulation): from December 30, 2026, for large and medium operators (June 30, 2027, for micro and small ones), cattle, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, rubber, soy and wood, and products made from them such as tires, wooden furniture, paper and chocolate, can only enter the EU with a due diligence statement showing they are deforestation-free and legally produced. Cattle hides, skins and leather were removed from the list by Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/2102.
• REACH: chemical substances made in or imported into the EU at one tonne or more a year must be registered, by the EU importer or a non-EU manufacturer’s only representative.
• CE marking: products under EU harmonized legislation, such as machinery, toys and electrical equipment, must carry the CE mark, by which the manufacturer declares that the product meets the legal requirements.

Which European port?

• North Sea: Rotterdam, Antwerp and Hamburg are mainline calls on Asia–Europe services and the usual gateways for the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and inland Europe. On Airlift’s shipments they also serve as transshipment hubs for Belfast, Dublin, Gdynia and the UK regional ports.
• United Kingdom: London Gateway, Southampton and Felixstowe are the deep-sea container ports. On Airlift’s shipments, Belfast containers from Mundra relayed at Rotterdam or Antwerp, and Liverpool, Teesport and Dublin containers at Rotterdam or London Gateway.
• Baltic: Gdańsk, Gdynia and Szczecin serve Poland and its neighbors. Airlift’s Gdańsk containers relayed at Southampton or Hamburg, and its Gdynia containers at Antwerp, Wilhelmshaven or Colombo, which is why the Baltic sits at the long end of the lane’s transit range.
• Mediterranean and Adriatic: Valencia and Barcelona serve Spain, and most of Airlift’s Mundra to Valencia shipments had no transshipment recorded. Koper in Slovenia serves Slovenia and, onward by rail or truck, inland Central Europe; Airlift’s Koper containers relayed at Piraeus, Tekirdağ or Port Said. La Spezia, Bari and Piraeus serve Italy and Greece.

Full container load (FCL)

• Equipment: 20′ standard (about 33 m³ of usable space), 40′ standard (about 67 m³) and 40′ high cube (about 76 m³). Most of Airlift’s containers on this lane are 40′ high cubes; 20′ boxes carry the dense cargo.
• The container is stuffed and sealed at your factory or a container freight station in India, travels under one bill of lading and is delivered intact. No other shipper’s cargo touches it.
• Cut-offs: the booking confirmation lists the shipping instructions, verified gross mass (VGM) and gate-in cut-offs at Mundra, Nhava Sheva or Ennore. For the EU, the house-level entry summary data (ICS2) must be complete before loading, so send the full goods description and consignee details with the shipping instructions.

Less than container load (LCL)

• Airlift moves LCL to Europe on request; most of it on this lane is garments from Chennai and Ennore to Rotterdam. Your cartons or pallets are consolidated at a container freight station (CFS) in India and unpacked at a CFS near the European port.
• LCL is charged per cubic meter or per 1,000 kg, whichever is greater (“weight or measure”), plus CFS handling at both ends.
• Ocean transit is the same as FCL on the same service, but consolidation and deconsolidation add days door to door.

How to choose

• Under about 13 m³, LCL is usually cheaper. Between about 13 and 20 m³, ask for both. Over 20 m³, FCL usually wins on cost, handling and transit.
• Time-critical or fragile goods favor FCL even at small volumes, because the container is sealed at origin and opened at destination.

What happens after the port

• Import declaration: lodged by a customs agent in the country of import, in the importer’s name and under its EORI number.
• Free time: terminals allow a set number of days before storage or demurrage starts, and carriers a set number of days to return the empty before detention applies; book collection before the vessel arrives.
• Delivery: by truck from the terminal, or by rail to an inland terminal followed by a short truck leg.

What to check before you choose a forwarder

• Own staff at origin in India, so pickup, the shipping bill and the vessel booking are handled directly rather than through a sub-agent.
• A routing answer, not just a rate: the carrier, the transshipment port, whether the service goes around Africa or through the Red Sea, and the transit to your port.
• Advance cargo data handled correctly: the EU’s ICS2 entry summary and the UK’s safety and security declaration must be complete before the vessel loads or arrives.
• A plan for the destination: your own customs agent, or the forwarder’s partner agent, with the commodity code, duty and VAT estimated before you ship.
• Ocean and air on the same lane, so a delayed order can switch modes without switching forwarders.