Pharmaceuticals air freight from Israel to United States

Why airfreight for pharmaceuticals?

Pharmaceuticals require speed, control, and traceability — three core qualities of airfreight. Medicines, vaccines, and biologics are valuable, time-sensitive, and temperature-sensitive. Sea freight takes weeks and provides insufficient control over the cold chain. Airfreight takes 1–3 days — with continuous monitoring.

Schiphol is one of Europe’s leading pharma cargo hubs: KLM Cargo's Pharma Gateway Amsterdam (PGA) is certified for GDP transport and offers specialized storage and handling facilities for pharmaceutical airfreight right at the airport.

When is airfreight essential for pharma?

• Clinical trials: samples and study medications must arrive exactly on time
• Acute drug shortages where every day counts
• Vaccines and biologics with short shelf life or strict cold chain
• High-value APIs where delay risk is unacceptable
• Compassionate use: individual patient shipments

Exporting to Israel

Israel is one of the most advanced technology economies in the world and an important market for Dutch machine parts, medical technology, and agri-tech. Schiphol offers multiple direct cargo flights per week to Tel Aviv (TLV), allowing most shipments to be cargo-to-cargo within 5–7 hours.

Customs & Regulations

Israeli customs (Israel Tax Authority) use the Sha'ar Olami system for digital declarations. For most industrial goods, a commercial invoice, packing list, and — for goods under the EU-Israel Association Agreement — an EUR.1 or invoice declaration for preferential tariff treatment are sufficient. Separate registration requirements apply for medical, telecom, and cosmetic products with the Ministry of Health or the Standards Institution of Israel (SII).

Practical Tips

• Request an EUR.1 or issuer's declaration in time for preferential clearance — this can significantly reduce import duties
• Keep in mind Shabbat (Friday evening through Saturday) and Jewish holidays when operations are halted
• Dual-use goods require export licenses from the Netherlands as well as an end-user declaration

Aircargo.nl works with dedicated agents at Ben Gurion and manages the complete documentation chain — including preferential certificates and end-user declarations — for smooth processing.

Importing from the United States

Imports from the US often involve high-value goods: medical equipment, semiconductors, aerospace parts, pharmaceuticals, and specialized machinery. The approximately 9-hour flight time makes air freight the logical choice for time-sensitive or valuable shipments.

Customs for imports from the US

The US and the EU do not have a free trade agreement, so standard EU import duties apply. Additional MDR/IVDR requirements apply for pharmaceuticals and medical devices when imported into the EU. Aerospace parts are subject to EASA regulations and require specific certificates (EASA Form 1 or FAA 8130-3).

Frequently requested goods from the US

• Medical and surgical equipment
• Semiconductors and chipsets
• Aerospace parts (AOG)
• Pharmaceuticals and biotech products
• Machinery and industrial tools

Aircargo.nl manages daily import shipments from the US — including customs clearance, any FDA documentation, and delivery throughout the Netherlands.

Israel as a Crosstrade Destination

Schiphol serves as a major European hub for crosstrades where Tel Aviv is the final destination. Many American and European tech and defense suppliers route high-value shipments via AMS to TLV, as the Dutch customs regime is predictable and efficient for transit.

Aircargo.nl has dedicated agents in Tel Aviv and can coordinate routing via El Al, KLM Cargo, or Cargolux as well as Israeli customs clearance — without the shipment needing to physically enter Dutch soil.

Key considerations for pharmaceutical airfreight

GDP transport mandatory

Pharmaceuticals must be transported in accordance with Good Distribution Practice (GDP) guidelines. This means a continuous cold chain with temperature recording, certified storage, and documentation proving that the temperature stayed within the required range throughout transport. Aircargo.nl works only with GDP-certified handlers and airlines.

Temperature requirements

Most pharmaceutical products require transport at 2–8°C (cold chain) or 15–25°C (room temperature). Biologics, vaccines, and certain diagnostics require -20°C or colder (frozen transport). Every shipment is equipped with a calibrated temperature logger and a temperature excursion report when applicable.

Regulatory documentation

• GDP certificate from the shipper
• Import or export license depending on product type and destination country
• Controlled substances: DEA license (US) or national narcotics permit
• Batch release certificates for biologics