An Air Waybill (AWB) is the standard shipping document for international air cargo. It functions as a receipt for the goods and a contract of carriage between the shipper and the airline, but — unlike a negotiable ocean bill of lading — an AWB is never a document of title. It is always non-negotiable and always issued to a named consignee.
Air waybills are governed internationally by the Montreal Convention (1999), which replaced the older Warsaw Convention system. The Montreal Convention sets carrier liability limits (currently 22 SDR per kilogram, roughly $30/kg, unless a higher value is declared) and standardizes documentation across carriers.
Two parallel forms exist, mirroring the ocean MBL/HBL split:
- Master Air Waybill (MAWB) — issued by the airline to a freight forwarder or consolidator.
- House Air Waybill (HAWB) — issued by the forwarder to the underlying shipper.
Each AWB carries an 11-digit number: a 3-digit airline prefix plus an 8-digit serial number. The prefix identifies the carrier (e.g., 020 for Lufthansa, 001 for American Airlines).
Because AWBs are non-negotiable, cargo is released to the named consignee against ID — no document surrender is required. This makes air freight inherently faster to clear than ocean freight but removes the document-of-title security that letter-of-credit financing relies on.