When your international AliExpress package has arrived at the departure transport hub, it’s normal for you to expect the journey to the transit country to be seamless.
But what if you see the tracking status showing, “Airline handover problem at departure transport hub?”
What could that even mean? Could you do anything to keep the package going as soon as possible? Let’s get the finest details.
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What Does, “Airline Handover Problem At Departure Transport Hub” Mean?
This AliExpress tracking status means that there is an issue with your package and the airline supposed to take your package to the transit country won’t take it.
3 Reasons Why AliExpress Says Airline Handover Problem At Departure Transport Hub
Your Package Contains Harmful Goods
In one of the scenarios where I was expecting my AliExpress package, I received this status and nothing made sense to me.
Unfortunately for me, the airline tasked with taking my package to a transit country wouldn’t take it simply because there was a knife there.
AliExpress ended up returning that knife with the seller and sent over the other packages.
From what I gathered, most airlines do this to save the recipient ahead.
See, most customs offices in different countries have a habit of seizing whatever package they deem to be harmful.
When your country’s customs have a habit of confiscating ‘harmful’ packages, most airlines decline such packages to avoid giving the recipient hope that they will receive their packages when they know well that they will be seized.
Your Package Has Contraband Contents
When an airline feels that your package contains illegal products or it was incorrectly declared, they usually decline it at the departure transport hub.
While most airlines sometimes mistake packages and decide not to ship them to you, AliExpress is mostly left with no choice but to return such packages to the sellers.
Basically, airlines begin to look into whether your package is allowed in your country, and if they judge that that doesn’t happen, they decline to receive such parcels.
The Type Of Package Isn’t Allowed In Your Country
There have been many incidents where most airlines refuse to receive packages containing Lithium batteries past a specific mAh capacity or with any type of batteries.
This is all dependent on their Terms and Conditions, and also depending on your country.
In some countries, customs seize all battery-operated packages without any meaningful explanation.
Instead of bringing yourself to only end up sitting in a customs office, most airlines decide not to pick up such packages, rendering AliExpress to tell you, “Airline Handover Problem at Departure Transport Hub.”
Why Is My Package Stuck On This Status For Days?
If the tracking status is still, “Airline handover problem at departure transport hub” for days, these are the reasons:
- The package hasn’t been scanned again yet: We have seen such packages getting sent back to the seller without any update on the tracking page. This is mostly due to a lack of scan, which is why we usually recommend using Third-party package tracking services to get finer details
- There is no available vehicle to take the package back: Depending on the time of the year and how many packages are getting sent back to the sorting centers or sellers, it might take longer for yours to get some space, making it stuck on such status for more days.
What Do I Do When AliExpress Says, “Airline Handover Problem At Departure Transport Hub?”
Contact The Seller
You can always talk to your seller to see how best you can handle such a situation.
Since AliExpress will most likely end up taking back such a package to the seller, you can ask them to send you a replacement package or a refund.
Be More Patient
If yours wasn’t a time-sensitive package and the seller doesn’t seem to cooperate well with you, we recommend that you be more patient until the guaranteed delivery date.
In such a moment, you can ask for a refund from AliExpress and it will get processed ASAP. Reaching out directly to AliExpress before that date won’t do anything for you. They will just tell you to wait for the guaranteed date.
We Recommend Using Third-party Package Tracking Services
We mostly find the AliExpress tracking statuses too generic and vague.
In other incidents, AliExpress doesn’t scan packages as frequently, meaning there are lots of missed updates on what really happened to a package that brought up the airline handover problem at the departure transport hub.
As such, use the free tracking sites such as 17Track and ParcelsApp.
