Air Cargo Rules for Shipping Human Remains from the US to China

Private Individuals Cannot Book Human Remains on a Plane

The first thing families learn — often too late — is that you cannot personally arrange to ship a body as air cargo on a commercial flight. Under TSA regulations, human remains can only be tendered to an airline cargo department by a licensed funeral director who holds verified "Known Shipper" status with the transporting airline. Private individuals, travel agents, and general freight brokers are all excluded.

This means the funeral home is not just preparing the body — it is the only entity legally allowed to book the shipment. Choosing a funeral home with international repatriation experience and existing airline cargo relationships is one of the most consequential early decisions the family makes.

Packaging Is Non-Negotiable

Airlines enforce strict packaging standards for human remains, and there is zero flexibility. The body must be:

Embalmed and professionally prepared. Chinese civil affairs and customs regulations require professional embalming at the point of origin. The funeral home must issue a certified Embalming Certificate confirming the procedure was performed by a licensed embalmer.

Placed in a hermetically sealed metal casket. The casket must be airtight, leak-proof, and constructed of metal. The hermetic seal prevents fluid leakage and odor during the flight. A standard wooden casket does not meet airline cargo requirements for international shipment.

Enclosed in an outer air tray. The sealed casket is placed inside a heavy-duty outer shipping container — a wooden or fiberboard air tray — designed to protect the casket during cargo handling. Airlines sell these trays (typically around $90 from American Airlines) or the funeral home can provide them. The outer container must be new, undamaged, and large enough that the casket does not shift during transport.

American Airlines TLC Program

American Airlines operates a dedicated mortuary transport service called TLC (Tender Loving Care), reachable at 1-800-227-4622 or TLC@aa.com. This program coordinates directly with funeral homes to manage the logistics of human remains shipments.

Through TLC, the funeral home arranges:

• Cargo space reservation on a specific flight
• Weight and dimensional calculations for volumetric pricing (air cargo rates are based on the greater of actual weight or dimensional weight)
• Coordination with the destination cargo facility for pickup or transfer

Other major carriers that handle the US-to-China corridor include Air China Cargo, United Airlines Cargo, and Delta Cargo. Each airline has its own specific packaging requirements, and the funeral home should confirm the exact specifications with the carrier before preparing the shipment.

Documentation Must Travel With the Body

All required paperwork is placed in a secure document pouch attached to the outside of the outer shipping container. This is a strict requirement — documents cannot travel separately with a family member in the passenger cabin. The cargo department will refuse to accept the shipment if the document pouch is incomplete.

The required documents include:

• The state-issued death certificate showing a non-infectious cause of death
• The Embalming and Casket Sealing Certificate
• The Burial Transit Permit issued by the local health department in the jurisdiction where the death occurred
• The Air Waybill (AWB) completed by the funeral director
• A sanitary declaration for China Customs, submitted electronically before departure

If the cause of death is a quarantinable communicable disease (cholera, plague, anthrax, or others on the GACC restricted list), the body will be denied entry into China and must be cremated locally in the US. The funeral home should verify the cause of death against the restricted list before booking the shipment.

Cost and Timeline

Shipping a body via air cargo from the US to mainland China typically costs $4,000 to $15,000 for the cargo freight alone, depending on the departure city, arrival port (Shanghai PVG, Beijing PEK, and Guangzhou CAN are the main entry points), and the airline's current fuel surcharges. Add the funeral home's preparation fees ($500–$1,200 for embalming, $500–$3,000 for the casket and air tray), and the total full-body repatriation typically falls in the $15,000 to $25,000 range.

Transit time is typically three to seven days from the funeral home to arrival at the Chinese port of entry, plus additional time for customs clearance and transfer to the designated domestic funeral home.

The Chinese Dies in the US — Family Emergency Guide includes a repatriation cost worksheet that helps families compare the full expense of body repatriation against local cremation and ashes carry-on — the two alternatives that cost 75% less.