New to air cargo?
Abbreviations and acronyms, made simple.
Look up an airline's codes, find out what a special handling code means, and understand dangerous goods and their UN numbers in plain English.
Airline codes
Every airline has a two-letter IATA code (used on tickets and air waybills), a three-letter ICAO code (used by air traffic control) and a three-digit AWB prefix (the first three digits of its air waybill numbers).
Special handling codes (SHC)
Three-letter codes on the air waybill and in messages that tell everyone how to handle the cargo: keep it cold, it's dangerous, it's valuable. A shipment can have several.
Dangerous goods
Dangerous goods are things that could harm people, the aircraft or the environment if they leak, burn or react: batteries, perfume, paint, aerosols, dry ice and more. Many can still fly, if they are classified, packed, marked, labelled and declared correctly.
How to read a dangerous goods entry
A four-digit ID for the substance or article, always written with “UN”: UN1845 is dry ice.
The official name you must use on the declaration and the package, for example “Dry ice”.
The type of danger, from 1 to 9 (see the labels below). Some classes are split into divisions such as 2.1 or 6.2.
How dangerous it is within its class: I high, II medium, III low. Not every entry has one.
Whether it may fly on passenger aircraft, only on freighters (“cargo aircraft only”), or not at all, and in what amounts.
The special handling code that goes on the air waybill and in messages, for example ICE for dry ice.
Shipping dangerous goods, in five steps: 1. Find the UN number (the product’s safety data sheet, section 14, usually has it). 2. Check it may fly and how much. 3. Pack it as the packing instruction says. 4. Mark and label the package. 5. Complete the Shipper’s Declaration for Dangerous Goods (not needed for some, such as dry ice alone and Section II lithium batteries).
The nine hazard classes
Tap a row for a plain-English explanation. “Allowed” means allowed within the DGR limits for quantity and packing; “Check the DGR” means it depends on the packing group or quantity.
Other abbreviations
Words and acronyms you'll hear every day in air cargo.