How does international mail service work?
Suppose that someone is mailing me a box from Germany. They go to the post office in Berlin, pay the postage, and the item is on its way.
It obviously gets to an airport in Germany – probably Frankfurt, but possibly not.
Does the Deutsche Post put it on a German plane to the US, under the DP’s authority? Or does the DP give it to the USPS representative in Frankfurt, thereby making the US responsible for it? Does the USPS have to fly it on a US flag aircraft?
I’m curious about where one country’s responsibility ends and the other’s begins.
Observing members:
0
Composing members:
0
3 Answers
Protocols are set by the Universal Postal Union, a treaty organization founded in 1874, that was folded into the United Nations in 1948. They have an operations subgroup.
The UPU established that:
There should be a uniform flat rate to mail a letter anywhere in the world
Postal authorities should give equal treatment to foreign and domestic mail
Each country should retain all money it has collected for international postage.
As such, there aren’t preferences for one flag carrier over another. The mail gets put on the next plane to the destination.
The way I think it works, but I have limited knowledge, is space is typically purchased on commercial airlines. A mailbag of letters that need to go from Germany to America, would be put on a flight marked for the USPS. It isn’t like there is a direct route between all countries though. A letter might go through a few countries, especially if it is going or coming to a country that doesn’t have a lot of mail move between them. What I don’t know is how the postage money is actually split up and who is paying for the airline space.
When you send with a service like Fedex, which I don’t believe you are talking about, but I’ll just mention it, Fedex has it’s own fleet of planes to move letters and packages. I know many Fedex pilots and they fly all over the world and domestically. I guess it’s possibly they also pay for space other airlines for locations they don’t fly to? I’d have to ask or read up
on it.
Edit: the flight isn’t marked for USPS, the bag of letters on the flight is marked for the post office.
Answer this question 
This question is in the General Section. Responses must be helpful and on-topic.
Composing members:
0
