The date that matters isn't the holiday — it's the booking cutoff weeks before it. Sea cargo for Christmas has to leave the UK in early October; air freight can wait until mid-December. Here's every upcoming deadline, counting down live.
Back to school 2026
Book by Friday, 4 September 2026
Uniforms, laptops and university supplies for the new term — air freight timing.
Christmas 2026
Book by Friday, 9 October 2026
Barrels, boxes and containers arriving before Christmas. Sea transit plus port clearing and door delivery means October is the real deadline — not December.
Book by Friday, 23 October 2026
RoRo and container vehicle shipments, allowing time for clearing at Tin Can or Apapa.
Book by Friday, 11 December 2026
The last realistic air booking for pre-Christmas delivery. December flights fill fast — book earlier if you can.
Easter 2027
Book by Friday, 29 January 2027
Sea freight for Easter delivery — book in January, the same working-backwards maths as Christmas.
Book by Friday, 12 March 2027
Air freight arriving in good time for Easter week.
Christmas 2027
Book by Friday, 8 October 2027
Barrels, boxes and containers arriving before Christmas 2027.
Book by Friday, 10 December 2027
Last realistic air booking for pre-Christmas delivery 2027.
Eid al-Fitr & Eid al-Adha
Eid dates move each year with the Islamic calendar, and deliveries to northern states (Kano, Kaduna, Sokoto, Abuja) slow during Ramadan. Ask us for the current cutoff — as a rule, book sea about 10 weeks ahead and air about 3 weeks ahead.
How the deadlines are worked out
Work backwards from the day it needs to be in someone's hands. Sea freight is 4–6 weeks door to door on a normal month, and the groupage container loads once a month — so the sailing you make decides the arrival. Clearance at Apapa or Tin Can and road delivery both run slower in the weeks before Christmas, when everybody on the corridor is shipping at once. That's the whole reason the October sailing is the safe one, and why an October cutoff produces a December delivery.
Air freight compresses the same journey into 7 working days, which is why it stays open so much later. It costs more per kilo — but for anything urgent, or for anyone who has already missed the sea cutoff, it's the answer.
Book early and you get more than a date
Peak season doesn't only squeeze the calendar, it squeezes space. Booking in September or early October means your barrel goes on the sailing you planned, not the next one, and it gives you room to fix problems — a prohibited item spotted in time, a document chased down, a collection rebooked. Leave it to December and every one of those becomes a crisis.
These cutoffs are planning dates based on typical corridor transit times. Confirm your exact deadline with us when you book — sailings and flight schedules move.
Questions about timing
When should I send Christmas cargo to Nigeria?
Sea cargo for Christmas needs to be booked in early October — the transit plus port clearing and door delivery is what pushes the deadline that far back. Air freight can go as late as mid-December. The countdown at the top of this page shows exactly how long is left.
Why is the sea deadline so early?
Because the arrival date isn't the finish line. Sea transit is 4–6 weeks door to door on a normal month, and the groupage container loads once a month — so the October sailing arrives comfortably, while November's runs straight into the pre-Christmas port congestion at Apapa and Tin Can. Working backwards from Christmas Day is how you get an October cutoff.
What happens if I miss the sea deadline?
You switch to air. It costs more per kilo, but it still arrives — that's the trade. Tell us what you're sending and we'll price both so you can decide.
When is the Easter shipping deadline?
Sea cargo for Easter is a late-January booking; air freight goes in mid-March. Easter is the corridor's second peak after Christmas, so the same "book early" logic applies.
What about Eid deadlines?
Eid moves each year with the Islamic calendar, so we publish no fixed date. As a rule, book sea about ten weeks ahead and air about three weeks ahead — and note that deliveries to northern states slow during Ramadan. Ask us for the current cutoff.
Do prices rise in the peak season?
Space gets tight rather than prices moving wildly — which is the real reason to book early. The customers who book in September get the space and the calm; the ones who book in December get whatever is left.