Air freight from Saudi Arabia to Lebanon costs from SAR 32 per kg at Gulf International Shipping and travels with Middle East Airlines to Beirut International Airport from four Saudi airports, Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam and Madinah, reaching the receiver in any Lebanese governorate roughly 3–5 days after pickup, as flight space and airport release allow. Customs clearance in Beirut starts from SAR 276, and anyone not in a hurry can weigh air against consolidated road freight, which starts from SAR 11 per kg but takes more days.
A plane needs no Jordanian transit, no Syrian leg and no truck swap at Nassib: it leaves a Saudi airport and lands in Beirut about four hours later. That is why people turn to it for documents, medicine or a spare part a factory is waiting on, for a student who wants a laptop and books before term starts, and for traders expecting samples to show customers. This page covers which airport your shipment leaves from, how its weight is charged, when air beats road, and what happens to it at Beirut airport.
In short
- Price per kg: from SAR 32, with customs clearance from SAR 276
- Saudi airports: Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam and Madinah, with nonstop flights to Beirut per the airline schedule
- Carrier: Middle East Airlines, with Saudia codeshare flights on some routes
- Flight time: about 3 hours 45 minutes from Jeddah and about 4 hours from Riyadh
- Door to door: 3–5 days, subject to flight space and release at Beirut
- Cheaper alternative: consolidated road freight via Jordan and Syria from SAR 11 per kg, 5–12 working days depending on the loading city
Route: Saudi airport → Beirut International Airport → clearance → delivery to any Lebanese governorate · 3–5 days · 0568829975
Which Saudi airports ship by air to Lebanon?
Air cargo for Beirut leaves from four Saudi airports with nonstop Middle East Airlines flights, and goods are loaded in the hold of the same aircraft that carries passengers. If you are in another city, we truck your shipment to the nearest airport with a flight and it departs from there.
Tabuk and Taif have no nonstop flight to Beirut, so parcels from there fly via Riyadh or Jeddah, with an extra day for the road leg to the airport. For Tabuk in particular we are frank: the road from Tabuk to Beirut is the shortest from any Saudi city, about 750 km, and arrives in roughly 5–8 working days, so the air premium may only pay off for small, very urgent shipments. Flight schedules can change, so we confirm the available flight when you book.
Air freight prices from Saudi Arabia to Lebanon
At Gulf International Shipping air freight to Lebanon starts from SAR 32 per kg, below the per-kg air rate advertised by shipping offices in Riyadh. The price covers collection from your home or office, packing suited to flying, export formalities and carriage to Beirut airport. Customs clearance in Beirut is added from SAR 276, together with any Lebanese duty or tax due on the contents.
Note: by air, expect delivery 3–5 days from pickup, as flight space and release allow; road takes 5–8 working days from Tabuk, 9–12 from Dammam, and 8–12 from the other big cities such as Riyadh, Jeddah, Makkah and Taif.
A pricing example
A 15 kg carton measuring 50 × 40 × 40 cm has a volumetric weight of 80,000 ÷ 6,000 ≈ 13.3 kg, so it is charged on its actual 15 kg: about 15 × 32 = SAR 480 at the starting rate, plus clearance from SAR 276. Sent by consolidated road freight, the same carton would start at roughly 15 × 11 = SAR 165, with a longer transit.
Actual weight or volume: what is an air shipment to Lebanon billed on?
Airlines sell space as well as weight, so every shipment has two weights: what the scale shows, and a volume weight, normally length × width × height in cm, divided by 6,000. The bill follows whichever is greater. A large, light carton of clothes can have twice its actual weight in volume, while a small, heavy box of books is charged on the scale.
- Compress clothes and bedding in vacuum bags before packing, because volume is what you pay for.
- Match the carton to its contents rather than leaving large gaps filled with paper.
- Combine small parcels into one sturdy carton instead of several, as each piece carries a minimum handling charge.
- Send the heaviest and bulkiest by road and keep air for what you need quickly.
Air, road or sea to Lebanon?
Each route to Lebanon has its place. Air is the fastest and the dearest per kg; road through Jordan and Syria is the main route for furniture, cartons and cars; and Jeddah Islamic Port has container sailings to Beirut and Tripoli for full commercial loads. This quick comparison helps you choose:
A practical rule: if the shipment is under 20–30 kg and urgent, air is usually the sensible choice. Above that weight, or for furniture and large appliances, the price gap widens quickly in favour of road. You can also split it: fly whatever is needed right away and send the rest by truck.
What suits air freight to Beirut?
Documents and papers
Original certificates, contracts and files their owner needs in Lebanon within days.
Small electronics
Laptops, phones and tablets, subject to the battery rules below.
Student belongings
Books, a laptop and a term’s clothes for a student joining a university in Beirut.
Spare parts and samples
A part a workshop or factory is waiting on, or samples a trader shows to customers.
Gifts and family parcels
Occasion gifts and small family parcels that cannot wait.
Permitted medicines
With a prescription and in personal quantities, plus a Lebanese health ministry licence where needed.
Preparing and packing an air shipment
An air shipment rides belts and rollers, is stacked inside the aircraft’s curved containers, then unloaded in Beirut and put on a delivery truck. We use double-wall cartons, fill gaps with light padding that adds no weight, wrap devices in bubble film and seal each carton with wide tape in an H pattern. Every piece gets a label with the receiver’s name, Lebanese phone number and its number within the shipment.
Before handover to the airline the shipment is X-ray screened, so an accurate contents list matters: one undeclared item can see a carton pulled from the flight and the whole shipment held.
What do airlines and Lebanese customs refuse?
Airline restrictions
- Loose lithium batteries and power banks face strict limits; devices with the battery installed are usually accepted under conditions.
- Perfumes and aerosols in bulk, flammable liquids, lighters and gas cylinders.
- Chemicals, paints and pressurised materials.
Lebanese customs prohibitions
- Weapons, ammunition, swords, knives and narcotics.
- Second-hand medical or radiology devices, and medicine lacking a prescription or licence.
- Fakes and goods with misleading origin labels, and anything of Israeli origin.
- Gas lighters, cedar seeds and seedlings, and 900 MHz cordless phones.
- Food needs approval from the Lebanese authorities, and wireless and satellite equipment is checked by the competent bodies.
Customs clearance at Beirut airport and charges
On landing, the cargo is taken to the Beirut airport freight terminal, where Lebanese customs check it against the list. We handle clearance from SAR 276 and let you know of any charges before release. Used personal effects in reasonable quantities usually pass without complication, while new goods and appliances pay duty according to their tariff line plus Lebanese VAT at 11%.
Goods made in Saudi Arabia that travel with a certificate of origin normally clear without Lebanese duty, as Saudi Arabia and Lebanon are both in the Greater Arab Free Trade Area, although VAT is still charged. A Lebanese citizen returning for good has a separate exemption for used belongings, chiefly an inventory stamped by the Lebanese embassy and arrival within three months of entry; see the Lebanon used household goods customs guide and confirm the conditions before shipping.
Delivery from Beirut airport across Lebanon
After clearance the shipment leaves the airport on a delivery truck to the receiver’s address. Beirut, its southern suburbs and Baabda are closest to the airport and are usually served the same day as release or the next, followed by Mount Lebanon, Keserwan and Byblos, then the Bekaa over Dahr al-Baidar, the North and Akkar, and the South down to Sidon, Tyre and Nabatieh. If the receiver prefers to collect at the airport, we arrange the pickup slot and send the papers needed.
Documents required for air freight to Lebanon
- From the sender in Saudi Arabia: ID or iqama copy, a contents list with quantity, weight and approximate value, and Fasah e-authorisation.
- For commercial goods: commercial invoice, CR, certificate of origin and packing list.
- For medicines: the prescription, and a Lebanese health ministry licence if the quantity exceeds personal use.
- From the receiver in Lebanon: passport or Lebanese ID copy, a Lebanese mobile number that answers, and the exact delivery address.
Booking an air shipment to Lebanon, step by step
- 1Send weight and dimensions
On WhatsApp 0568829975: what you are shipping, each carton’s weight and size, your city and the Lebanese area. - 2Confirm price and flight
We work out the chargeable weight, then send the price with the next flight that has space. - 3Collection and packing
We collect from your home or office, repack anything that needs it and attach the labels. - 4Export and security screening
We complete Fasah formalities and hand the shipment to the airline after screening. - 5Flight and clearance
The shipment lands in Beirut; we follow the customs inspection and tell you of any charges. - 6Delivery
The shipment reaches the receiver’s door in any Lebanese governorate and is signed for.
Can a car be shipped to Lebanon by air?
Flying a car is very expensive and rare, and we do not offer it. Instead, a left-hand-drive car up to 8 years old rides on a carrier, enclosed or open, by road through Jordan and Syria to Lebanon, costing from SAR 2,300 (small) and SAR 3,680 (large). Export runs through Absher and Fasah, and Lebanon charges duty on the car’s assessed value. Details are in car shipping from Saudi Arabia to Lebanon.
Mistakes that raise the cost of an air shipment or delay it
- A large, half-empty carton charged on its volume rather than its weight.
- A power bank or loose battery inside a clothes carton, which gets the carton pulled from the flight.
- A vague contents list without item counts and values, which lengthens inspection in Beirut.
- An inactive Lebanese phone number, leaving the shipment at the airport after release.
- Flying furniture or large appliances when road is far cheaper and only days slower.
- Commercial quantities of medicine without a licence, which customs will hold.
Why Gulf International Shipping for your air shipment to Lebanon?
Four airports
We ship from Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam and Madinah and bring other cities to the nearest airport.
Straight weight figures
We tell you the weight you will be charged on before you pay, and how to lower it.
Clearance in Beirut
We follow inspection and release at Beirut airport and flag any charges before delivery.
Road option when it fits
If road suits your shipment better we say so, and can split it between the two.
Want to fly a parcel to Lebanon?
Tell us the weight, size, your city and the Lebanese area, and you will hear back with a price and the earliest flight.
Related Lebanon shipping guides
- shipping company from Saudi Arabia to Lebanon and shipping prices from Saudi Arabia to Lebanon
- Air freight by city: shipping from Riyadh to Lebanon, shipping from Jeddah to Lebanon, shipping from Dammam to Lebanon and shipping from Madinah to Lebanon
- cartons and parcels shipping to Lebanon and the Masnaa border crossing guide
- air freight service, customs clearance and other destinations
