Air Freight from Vietnam to USA: Cost per Kg & Transit 2026

Air freight from Southeast Asia to the USA typically runs $3.50 to $6.00 per kg for standard cargo, billed on chargeable weight. Peak season pushes the same lanes to $5.00–$8.50 per kg. Those ranges come from our air freight cost per kg guide, which tracks the major trade lanes. Your exact rate depends on the origin airport, destination, cargo type, and how far ahead you book. Ho Chi Minh City routings often price tighter than smaller gateways, thanks to more carrier capacity at Tan Son Nhat. Ask for a live rate at /quote/ — just send your HS code, weight, and timeline.

Air freight from Vietnam to the USA takes 5 to 8 days door-to-door. That covers export clearance in Vietnam, the flight, and US customs processing. Flight time itself is short. Ground handling, hub connections, and clearance on each end make up most of the total. Direct freighter service from Vietnam is more limited than from China, so many shipments connect through a regional hub. Expect longer waits before Tet and during the October–December peak, when air capacity tightens. Book early if your shipment has a hard delivery date.

Choose air freight when speed protects more value than the freight premium costs. Air runs 5–8 days. LCL ocean freight from Vietnam runs 35–45 days door-to-door, and FCL runs 28–38 days. Air usually wins for light, high-value cargo — samples, garments for a launch window, electronics, and urgent replacement parts. LCL usually wins for heavier, slower-moving stock, where the per-kg gap outweighs the month in transit. Run both numbers on total landed cost, including the inventory you would carry during an ocean transit. Many shippers split orders: an air tranche to hit the date, and the balance by ocean.

Air freight gets billed on chargeable weight — whichever is higher, actual weight or volumetric weight. Volumetric weight equals length × width × height, in centimeters, divided by 6,000 under the IATA standard. A carton measuring 50 × 40 × 30 cm has a volumetric weight of 60,000 ÷ 6,000, or 10 kg. If it only weighs 6 kg on the scale, you still pay for 10 kg. This bites on garments and footwear, which are light for their volume. Weight breakpoints sit at 45 kg, 100 kg, 300 kg, 500 kg, and 1,000 kg, and rates drop at each one. Tighter packing and consolidated bookings both lower your bill.

Tan Son Nhat Airport (SGN) in Ho Chi Minh City is Vietnam's main air cargo gateway. It serves the garment, footwear, and electronics factories across South Vietnam. Noi Bai Airport (HAN) in Hanoi serves North Vietnam, including the electronics plants near the capital. Da Nang (DAD) covers Central Vietnam for smaller volumes. On the US side, Los Angeles (LAX) handles heavy trans-Pacific volume. Chicago O'Hare (ORD) and New York JFK serve Midwest and East Coast buyers. We match the airport pair to your factory location, cargo type, and deadline.

No. Section 301 tariffs apply to Chinese-origin goods, whatever the transport mode. Vietnamese-origin goods pay standard MFN duty rates instead: footwear 8–37.5%, apparel 10–32%, furniture 0–8%, and electronics mostly 0%. The origin of the goods decides the duty, not the flight or the vessel. CBP checks Vietnamese origin claims closely, to stop Chinese goods from being routed through Vietnam. Anti-dumping and countervailing duties still cover some products, including certain shrimp, catfish, steel, and solar cells. Licensed customs broker partners in our network review your HTS code and confirm your exact duty rate before you ship.

Yes. Every air shipment to the USA needs an Air Cargo Advance Screening (ACAS) filing before the goods board the aircraft. ACAS is the air-cargo version of the ISF filing that ocean shipments use. The carrier or its handling agent transmits the data, built from your house air waybill details. Late or missing ACAS data can hold cargo on the ground in Vietnam. Get your commercial invoice and packing list right early, because the filing draws on them. Licensed customs broker partners in our network coordinate the ACAS data and prepare your CBP entry before the shipment lands.