Air Mail is the cheapest international shipping option available in Nepal. Air Mail is a mail service; that means your shipment will be handed over to us at our Thamel office or the Post Office in Nepal, and then shipped overseas via the Universal Postal Union's airmail system.
Unlike courier services, there is no pickup facility from your door nor is delivery made to your address when using airmail; rather, the recipient has to collect from his/her nearest Post Office, or the shipment is delivered via the Post Office of the destination nation. Tracking is limited after the item leaves Nepal.
In exchange of this disadvantage, Air Mail provides the cheapest price per kilo for international shipping from Nepal.
Air Mail is the right service when you:
Send personal letters, greetings cards, and postcards to another country
Send light documents, which include photocopies, letters, printed documents, etc., without demanding time and tracking of delivery
Do not demand express delivery and can wait for the parcel to be delivered; no delivery time guarantee needed
Are students, individuals, or irregular shippers, having no hurry and limited funds
Valuable, breakable, or priceless items
Delivery to arrive within a particular time frame
Real time tracking (limited tracking available) of the delivery
Door to door delivery at the destination
For those needs, our International Courier Service or Air Cargo service is the appropriate option.
There is considerable variation in transit times for postal airmail services in Nepal according to different destination countries and their efficiency in handling inbound international mails:
Note that the above information is estimate only. Actual transit times will vary depending on how quickly the origin country clears customs, the postal efficiency in the destination country, holidays, and peak periods.
Pack your parcel carefully. Use padding material inside if it is delicate. The parcel should be packed firmly enough to withstand the handling process at several mail centers. Avoid using single-layer paper wrapping.
A customs declaration label is mandatory on all international postal packets. CN22 label (a small green label) for goods weighing less than 300 grams. CN23 label (large white label) for goods weighing more than 300 grams. It states the information about the goods inside the parcel. We can help you fill up the forms properly.
You can bring your parcel at our Thamel office (Paknajol Marg, Thamel, Kathmandu) or directly handover at Nepal Post counter. We calculate postage fees based on weight and destination.
Your mail piece will be processed at the General Post Office (GPO) Air Mail Unit (AMU) in Kathmandu and dispatched on the nearest flight available to the destination region.
The mail item arrives at the destination country and is delivered by the country's postal authorities. Examples: Royal Mail in the United Kingdom, USPS in the United States, and Australia Post in Australia.
Here is the honest opinion:
Simple Rule:
For parcels below 20 kilograms that are not urgent, Air Mail is cheaper.
For urgent and important items, use courier service
It is possible but very hard to track an airmail parcel sent using the services of Nepal Post. A simple reference number is generated, but there is no provision for end-to-end real-time tracking. In case of the need for tracking, you can opt for our Courier Service where tracking is provided on a real-time basis.
Personal letters, cards, printed documents, books, clothes, craftworks, and lightweight personal items can be sent using Air Mail. Cash, lithium batteries, flammable products, narcotics, liquid substances, and anything else prohibited by Nepal Post or the destination country’s postal department cannot be sent using this mode.
Customs at the destination nation will issue import duties on the parcels shipped via air mail based on the stated value in the CN22/CN23 customs declaration form. The threshold of many nations for importing goods through postal services (de minimis) is relatively low (e.g., £39 for gifts imported by post into the UK). Any parcel with declared value above the threshold will attract duty charges.
Courier services offer high-quality handling services such as door collection, tracking, express shipment, and insured delivery. Air Mail service relies on normal UPU postal services. You are paying extra for speed and quality when using a courier company, whereas you are paying for the basics when using Air Mail.
For critical documents with deadlines such as visa applications, legal papers, university admissions, we strongly recommend our Courier Service, which provides tracking, guaranteed transit times, and proof of delivery. Air Mail is appropriate for non-urgent personal correspondence and low-value items where the occasional delay or loss would be an inconvenience rather than a serious problem.
