Australia Post reveals Christmas delivery deadlines for International parcels-ByLisa Keller
Source:Glamadelaide
It’s hard to believe that Christmas is less than 100 days away and with the festive season fast approaching, we start to think about sending cards and gifts to our loved ones far and wide.
Over the past few years, Australia Post has been under the pump with postage delays burdening the company which are largely due to Covid restrictions however, the postal service has warned that another busy season is expected and those wanting to send parcels overseas, probably need to get a wriggle on.
Those wanting to send gifts to China are at the top of the list, with Australia Post advising to get your package in the post by November 21st for standard post and November 14th for Economy Air.
The Economy Air service is generally used for non-urgent letters and parcels up to 2kg and is one of the cheapest options and recommended for when speed isn’t your highest priority – hence the early postage date for a Christmas arrival.
Posting to the UK? You’ll want to get yourself organised and shipped off by November 21 and if you’re sending to the USA, you’ve got until November 28th for Economy Air.
If you choose International Express, you’ve obviously got a little bit more wiggle room with parcels to the USA, UK, Canada and New Zealand needing to be sent by December 9th.
Postage dates for parcels to be sent within Australia will be revealed by Australia Post in the coming weeks.
Customers are to be reminded that while these dates give a handy guideline, they are not definitive and are subject to outside factors.
Covid-19 restrictions in some countries are to blame for the delays as well as the suspension of some international routes. Labour shortages within the industry are also having a significant impact with Australia Post recently announcing a huge employment campaign in which the company intends to hire thousands of new employees to brace for the festive season.
For a full list of cut-off dates and postage timeframes for all international locations, visit the Australia Post website.
Australia Post suspends sea mail amid prohibited item concerns
Australia Post is suspending sea mail temporarily amid concerns about prohibited items being shipped into the country.
Australia Post has suspended mail and items coming into the country via sea amid a spike of prohibited items being shipped across the border.
The carrier said it had suspended sea mail temporarily from October 1.
An Australian Post spokeswoman said that it was working with international carriers to get the suspension lifted as soon as possible.
The move does not affect Australia Post’s air freight service, through which a vast majority of its packages are sent and processed.
The suspension will only affect a fraction of Australia Post’s international capacity.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, when international borders were closed, there was a large spike in the number of items being processed via sea mail, however that has since subsided.
“Due to an increasing number of prohibited mail items coming into Australia by sea, Australia Post temporarily suspended incoming sea mail effective 1 October 2022,” Australia Post said in a statement.
“The increase in sea mail volume was a direct result of Covid air restrictions and decreased aircraft capacity.
“Australia Post currently has only one facility capable of managing sea mail, and significant delays and safety concerns have been experienced due to the volume of prohibited items arriving and requiring intervention.”
Australia Post said that it would process any sea mail containers which had already arrived in the country, as well as any items which were currently en route via sea.
However the suspension affects any sea mail items sent after the suspension date of October 1.
“Australia Post is in the process of reviewing its sea mail capacity in order to remove the suspension as quickly as possible,” Australia Post said in a statement.
“Australia Post is still processing sea mail containers in transit at the time the suspension was announced, and there remains no impact to mail items being sent by air to Australia or items being sent by sea from Australia.
“Australia Post apologises for any inconvenience during this time.
