Sweden – a European car manufacturing hub

Sweden is a major car manufacturing hub in Europe with five production sites spread across its territory, manufacturing both cars and engines. The names are renown like NEVS (National Electric Vehicle Sweden) in Trolhättan, Volvo Car Corporation (GEELY) in Torslanda (Göteborg), and Koenigsegg Automotive AB in Ängelholm. Furthermore, engines are manufactured by companies like Volkswagen AG in Södertälje and the Volvo group.

Delivery to Sweden: the challenge of long distances

Sweden faces a major logistics challenge due to its far-flung location compared to the rest of Europe. Express delivery of car parts (parcels, pallets] to that Nordic country can be tricky owing to the long distances to cover.

Sweden is 1,170 km from Paris, 2,200 km from Madrid… 2,600 km from Lisbon

Thus expect 1,170 km from Paris to Sweden, 2,200 km from Madrid, Spain and up to 2,600 km from Lisbon, Portugal. For logistics emergencies to Sweden, using road transport can take several days as the distances to cover are so long. Resorting to air freight may then be a smart move to drastically reduce delivery time frames in a logistics crisis (supply shortage, line stoppage at the car factory, urgent corrective maintenance, broken industrial mould, avoidance of contractual delay penalties, etc.).

Road vs air charter to Sweden: transport time to Gothenburg

To illustrate the above statement, the below table compares road and air (air charter) transport times from various European capitals towards Gothenburg-Landvetter Airport, Sweden.

*Road transit times are given for information only and do not take account of mandatory stops for the driver, traffic conditions that can impact the itinerary, etc.

**Average airport – airport flight time (for info only) accounting for: 1-hour technical stop when necessary, 1 hour for loading and take-off, and 30 minutes for unloading. The flight times given do not account for any potential run-in for the aircraft or pre-/post-carriage.

Lots of time saved with an air charter to Sweden

The previous table shows that air charter can cut delivery time frames by 5 on average compared to road transport.

A shipment from Prague to Sweden only takes 3 hours by air vs 14 hours by road

Consequently, a shipment from Prague to Sweden only takes 3 hours by air vs 14 hours by road, thus saving 11 hours. Same findings for transport from Paris: road transport takes more than 20 hours, whereas air charter covers the same distance in less than 4 hours, saving 16 hours on the France-Sweden delivery time frame.

It is possible to achieve such swift transit times thanks to turboprop charter planes like the Metroliner, which offers an average payload of 6 Euro Pallets (EPAL 6) or 1 gross tonne.

Air charter to Sweden: Advantages of this transport solution

If you’re not yet familiar with air freight, you can find out below the main advantages of the air charter solution for your urgent parcel or pallet transport needs:

• High responsiveness (on-demand flight)
• 24/7 availability
• Access to numerous local airports
• Much reduced door-to-door delivery time frames

Compared to truck transport, air charter offers unbeatable delivery time frames for urgent shipments to Sweden. This means, for instance, that maintenance parts could be delivered in time to avert line stoppage.

Note: 

To facilitate loading on urgent cargo charters, Euro Pallets need to be under 100 cm in height (standard cargo door dimension on most aircrafts).

What if a pallet exceeds 100 cm?

You can organise a repacking of the pallets or break them down into parcels, boxes or plastic containers (with lid). If this is not possible (metal containers, for example), call Air Time Critical® who will endeavour to find an appropriate aircraft, such as a Saab 340 for example.

How much does an air charter to Sweden cost?

Shipping goods from Europe to Sweden requires an average budget of between EUR 20,000 to 25,000 for a cargo of 1 to 6 Euro Pallets and 1 tonne of payload.

This is of course an average estimate that can vary with the itinerary, the type of aircraft used, run-in and availability at the time of the request. Potential technical stops for long haul are not included in this estimate either. For an accurate and up-to-date rate, request a quote via our webform or by phone +33 1 78 90 26 52.

Does importing to Sweden necessitate customs clearance?

As Sweden is part of the Schengen area, no customs procedure is necessary to import from or export to this country. This greatly facilitates the last-minute organisation of air charter flights and On Board Courier to this destination.

Focus on the Swedish car industry

Sweden is an important car manufacturer with 5 production sites across its territory, manufacturing cars as well as engines. You will find below the various production sites located in Sweden:

The Volvo Group in Sweden, Belgium, and soon … in Slovakia

The Volvo group has a presence in Sweden with 2 important production sites. Thanks to our air transport solutions, Volvo is able to organise the delivery of car or maintenance parts from those other European factories and suppliers in a matter of hours.

With air charter, Gothenburg is a 3.5-hour flight away from Kosice, compared to 18.5 hours by road

Volvo opened a new production site in Kosice, Slovakia in 2023. It is entirely dedicated to electric vehicles and represents the third Volvo factory in Europe, after Ghent in Belgium and Gothenburg in Sweden. There is no doubt that this new factory will work very closely with the Gothenburg one for the shipping of car parts. In an emergency, those 2 sites would be well advised to use air charter (3.5-hour flight) and save almost 14 hours on road transport.

Air Time Critical® has been present in Slovakia since 2008 for door-to-door solutions

Note: 

Air Time Critical® has been operating in Slovakia since 2008 with the aim of supporting customers in the automotive industry with door-to-door solutions for Košice and all of Slovakia and the neighboring Czech Republic

Need to charter a cargo plane to Sweden?

For further information or an air freight request, contact Air Time Critical®:

• via the webform
• by phone : +32 2 888 84 16 (EN/FR)

Shorten your delivery time frames with ATC®’s air charter solution