1.
airmail; air post
Mail sent by airplane, typically for international correspondence. Faster but more expensive than surface mail.
航空便で送る。
To send by airmail.
航空便なら一週間で届きます。
It will arrive in a week by airmail.
国際郵便は航空便と船便のどちらかを選べます。
For international mail, you can choose between airmail and surface mail.
2.
air freight; air cargo shipment
Goods or packages transported by airplane, as opposed to sea freight or overland transport.
荷物を航空便で発送した。
I shipped the package by air freight.
航空便は料金が高いが早い。
Air freight is expensive but fast.
生鮮食品は航空便で輸送されることが多い。
Fresh food is often transported by air freight.
Compound of 航空 ('aviation; air') and 便 ('mail service; delivery; flight'). The standard term used at post offices and shipping companies for air transport of mail or cargo.
USAGE:
- At a Japanese post office, when sending international mail you will be asked to choose between 航空便 and 船便 ('surface mail; sea mail').
- The word also applies to commercial cargo shipped by air, as opposed to 船便 or 陸便 ('overland transport').
- On envelopes and packages, often written in the abbreviated form エアメール (from English 'airmail') or marked with the French-origin label PAR AVION.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 航空便で送る: to send by airmail
- 航空便で届く: to arrive by airmail
- 航空便の料金: airmail postage
- 国際航空便: international airmail
SIMILAR WORDS:
- 船便: surface mail; sea mail — slower and cheaper alternative using ships
- エアメ���ル: airmail — English loanword used interchangeably, especially in casual contexts
- 速達: express delivery — domestic express mail service, different from airmail
- 郵便: mail; post — the general term for postal service