A twelve-week business
Pakistan exports mangoes for roughly three months, and everything about the freight follows from that compression. Air capacity out of Multan, Lahore, and Karachi tightens sharply from late May, rates climb through June and July, and a consignment booked on harvest competes for space with every other exporter who waited.
The exporters who consistently pay less are not negotiating harder. They are booking capacity before the season opens, when the forwarder is allocating space rather than rationing it.
When each variety ships
Varieties ripen in sequence, which spreads the season but also means the freight profile changes as it progresses. Early-season fruit travels when capacity is available; peak-season fruit competes for it.
- Sindhri — late May to early July, the season opener, mainly from Sindh
- Chaunsa (white and Samar Bahisht) — late June through August, the largest export volume
- Anwar Ratol — July, small-fruited and highly prized, shorter shelf life
- Langra — July to early August, mainly Punjab
- Dusehri — June to July, significant domestic and regional demand
- Late Chaunsa — August into September, the tail of the season
Where the cold chain actually breaks
The failure is almost never in the air. It is in the hours between the packhouse and the aircraft hold — fruit loaded onto an unrefrigerated truck at midday, or staged on hot tarmac waiting for a flight. Shelf life lost there cannot be recovered by a cold hold or a fast transit.
Mango is picked at a specific maturity for export and ripens continuously from that moment. Every hour above the target temperature moves the fruit further along that curve, so a consignment that arrives technically on time can still arrive commercially worthless because it ripened in transit.
- Pre-cool at or near the orchard, not at the airport
- Use refrigerated transport from packhouse to airport, including short legs
- Stage in a temperature-controlled facility, never on open tarmac
- Book flights that minimise ground time at transhipment points
- Confirm the airline's cold-chain handling at the destination, not only at origin
Packing that survives the journey
Mango cartons have to do two jobs at once: protect the fruit from crushing, and let heat escape. Ventilated corrugated cartons with the fruit in single or double layers, separated by trays, are the standard for a reason — sealed cartons trap the heat the fruit itself generates as it respires.
Pallet configuration matters as much as the carton. Stacking that blocks the ventilation holes defeats the carton design, and over-tight stretch wrap does the same. Air has to move through the pallet, not around it.
Documentation that stops consignments at the wrong end
Fruit needs a phytosanitary certificate issued by the Department of Plant Protection, confirming the consignment was inspected and meets the importing country's plant health requirements. Some destinations require more: hot water treatment certification, vapour heat treatment, or registration of the orchard and packhouse.
A missing or incorrectly issued certificate stops the consignment at arrival rather than at origin, which for perishables is the worst possible outcome. The fruit sits in a bonded facility ripening while the paperwork is corrected, and by the time it is released the commercial value has gone.
- Phytosanitary certificate — required for every destination
- Treatment certification — required by several markets, varies by country
- Commercial invoice and packing list matching the declared carton count
- Certificate of origin where the buyer's tariff treatment depends on it
- Import permit from the buyer, where the destination requires one in advance
Air or sea
Mango is a marginal sea freight candidate and a straightforward air freight one. Reefer sea transit to the Gulf is short enough to be viable for some varieties, and exporters do ship successfully that way. To Europe or North America, transit time generally exceeds what the fruit tolerates at export maturity.
Citrus is the opposite case. Kinnow has a substantially longer shelf life and travels well in reefer containers at a fraction of the air rate, which is why the winter citrus season and the summer mango season are handled so differently despite both being fruit out of Punjab.
What to do before the season opens
Almost every decision that determines whether a mango season goes well is made before the first fruit is picked.
- Book air capacity in advance rather than on harvest
- Confirm phytosanitary and treatment requirements for each destination market
- Arrange pre-cooling capacity at or near the packhouse
- Agree carton and pallet specifications with your buyer in writing
- Line up refrigerated road transport for the packhouse-to-airport leg
- File a trial declaration early so HS codes and documentation are settled before volume starts