Situated in the heart of the eastern Mediterranean, Cyprus isn’t exactly the easiest location to send pallets to from the UK. In fact, many people think that the only practical way to send a pallet to Cyprus is with an air freight operator due to its relatively far-flung location. However, this is far from the case because palletised shipments to the island can be arranged much more cost-effectively by land and ferry. Therefore, only consider air freight for the lightest and most urgent shipments to Cyprus.
What do British exporters need to bear in mind when they need to send a pallet to Cyprus? Read on to find out.
There Are Two Cypriot States
To begin with, Cyprus is one island but it is split into two states. Southern Cyprus is an independent Greek-speaking EU nation. The northern part is a state that is dominated by Turkey. Since the two states were formed in the 1960s following armed conflict, no commercial goods can pass from one side to the other. Therefore, if you send a pallet to Cyprus and it enters the island through the wrong port, you will not be able to do anything with it other than return it. Always make sure that you know exactly where the final destination of your consignment needs to get to before making any logistical plans.
Use Courier Services Via Greece or Turkey
From the UK, sending a pallet to Cyprus will typically involve driving it to a suitable ferry service that runs from a port in mainland Greece or Turkey. The port of Lavrio, near Athens, for example, offers regular roll-on, roll-off ferry services to Limassol in southern Cyprus. This is the quickest way to get a pallet or two of goods loaded on a van onto the island for destinations like Larnaca, Paphos and Poli, according to one expert in Cypriot commercial consignments, Barrington Freight. If you are sending a pallet to North Cyprus, on the other hand, then a ferry from Alanya in southern Turkey to Girne is a good option. Ferried courier services tend to be quicker for deliveries to Cyprus because the goods can continue their onward journey on arrival. Unloading shipments at ports to be handled with general cargo and collected at the other end is slower and sometimes less secure.
Cost-Effective Groupage Shipments
Some freight forwarding companies in the UK are able to offer low-cost shipping rates to Cyprus because they apply an economy of scale. What this means is that one pallet to Cyprus will be matched with others going to similar destinations on the island. Since the pallets are grouped together, they need fewer resources to be used and such groupage shipments are consequently cheaper. However, they can take longer than express courier services. Therefore, this option is only worth it if your Cypriot customer is prepared to wait for their order to arrive. On the whole, courier services offer quicker, more flexible results whether you are talking about sending a pallet to North or South Cyprus.