International Service Alerts
Circumstances which can influence the transit time of your international mail
Below you will find an overview of the current international service alerts that can affect the receipt and delivery of mail and parcels to and from abroad.
E-mail Alerts
Current events
Delayed delivery due to COVID-19
Date of alert:
| 5th of February 2021, ongoing
|
| Expected delay:
| Unknown |
| Region:
| Worldwide |
| Reason for service alert:
| For the list of countries below, we can give you more of an estimate of the expected delay. This delay is added to the normal delivery times. Australia: 1 - 21 days
Delivery delays due to COVID-19. The situation is constantly changing. PostNL has no influence on this. We cannot guarantee a time of delivery. For business questions, please contact your account manager. Please note; we update this list regularly.
|
No delivery due to COVID-19
Date of alert:
| 5th of February 2021, ongoing |
| Expected delay:
| Unknown, no delivery possible at this moment |
| Region:
| Worldwide |
| Countries affected:
| Route closed; mail and package delivery not possible. At this time we do not know when the situation changes, nor can we tell you when routes reopen. The situation changes per country. Please note; we update this list regularly.
|
Poland
Date of alert:
| 15th of February, ongoing |
| Average delay:
| 7 – 14 days |
| Country:
| Poland |
| Reason for service alert:
| Due to Covid-19 measures, high volumes and bad weather impact we experience delays in delivery of all types of mail and parcels in Poland. Delays can measure up to 14 days. |
United States (US)
Date of alert:
| 2nd of February, ongoing |
| Average delay:
| 9 – 27 days |
| Country:
| United States |
| Reason for service alert:
| Update 2 February: We are currently unable to fly our volumes towards JFK Airport in New York due to heavy snowfall. Volumes are kept at our carriers side in NL and will be transported as soon as flights are accepted again. Impact on processing at USPS is unknown, but we expect severe delays in delivery of items in the New York area as well.
Due to the impact of peak volumes and limited availability or capacity of our United States Postal Service entry points (at US airports), we are experiencing heavy delays on our shipments. Transit data shows that USPS is experiencing major backlogs in these entry points, resulting for some volumes to experience delays of 6 weeks or more. We are aware of the issues USPS is facing and where. We are working closely with USPS every day to get our shipments to the right entry points with the best capacity. While we are working hard to resolve this as quickly as possible, we are dependent on our partners. Unfortunately these delays affects both mail and parcel volumes. In addition to that we have noticed missing scans in the US, resulting in items frequently missing updates until they are sorted in the domestic centers of USPS |
Spain (ES)
Date of alert:
| 12th of January 2021, ongoing |
| Expected delay:
| 4-7 days |
| Country:
| Spain |
| Reason for service alert:
| Due to severe weather conditions in Spain, multiple delays can be expected for the pickup and delivery of all mail products in Spain. |
United Kingdom (UK)
Date of alert:
| 12th of January 2021, ongoing |
| Expected delay:
| 6-12 days |
| Country:
| United Kingdom |
| Reason for service alert:
| Update: While Brexit has caused multiple disruptions in our logistical network towards the UK, we are pleased to inform you that all mitigating actions we took have resulted in no further delays as from the 7th of January. The traffic jams at Calais have been resolved and we are able to handover our volumes in the UK as promised. The processing of all volumes is currently also handled according the expected transit times. The impact of COVID-19 measurements is still in place but impact on customs checks is declining as we are able to provide all required documentation. Expected delays for destination UK due to the COVID-19 measures are set between 4-7 days.Due to the suspension of the Eurotunnel our transport capacity to the United Kingdom has been significantly reduced. We expect that the suspension will affect traffic up until and after Christmas. PostNL will continue to offer mail and parcel services to the UK. However note that we expect strong delays due to the traffic congestion and public holidays. We are currently looking into expanding our transport capacity. Delivery after first of January Please take in account that there is a possibility that your parcel to the UK will be delivered after 1-1-2021 when the consequences of the Brexit are a fact. Therefore we recommend to add an invoice to the outside of each parcel to ensure a smooth customs clearance which will be applicable from then on. More information about the impact of the Brexit you can find at postnl.nl/brexit. |
Sweden (SE)
Date of alert:
| 7th of January 2021, ongoing |
| Expected delay:
| none |
| Country:
| Sweden |
| Reason for service alert:
| Due to an IT issue at our postal partner (PostNord) in Sweden, there might be delivery scans missing for this destination – which is estimated to be 10% of the Packet Tracked and Registered shipments. The issue is not causing any delays or a decrease in the delivery quality. |
Germany (DE)
Date of alert:
| 14th of December 2020, ongoing |
| Expected delay:
| 4-7 days |
| Country:
| Germany |
| Reason for service alert:
| Due to a high amount of parcels and Express Mail Service (EMS) sendings into Germany they are experiencing delays in delivery. Volumes are higher than they are able to process. |
Italy
Date of alert:
| 11th of December 2020, ongoing |
| Expected delay:
| Unknown |
| Country:
| Italy |
| Reason for service alert:
| Poste Italiane suspended delivery services in the below postal code areas, in order to minimise the spread of the coronavirus (Covid-19):
Camastra (CAP 92020) - in the Caltanissetta area Misilmeri (postcode 90036) en Ciminna (90023) - in the Palermo area Vittoria (CAP 97019) en Acate (97011) - in the Ragusa area Cesarò (98033), Bronte ( 95034), Maniace (95030) en San Teodoro (98030) - in the Catania area Pallagorio (88818) - in the Cosenza area Cotronei (88836), Isola Capo Rizzuto (88841) en Mileto (89852) - in the Catanzaro area Bagnara Calabra (89011), Platì , Bruzzano Zeffiro (89030), Cardeto (89060) - in the Reggio Calabria area Postal code reopened: 97013 |
Hong Kong
Date of alert:
| 11th of December 2020, ongoing |
| Expected delay:
| 4 - 7 days |
| Country:
| Hong Kong |
| Reason for service alert:
| HongPost informs us that new restrictions have come in place in order to prevent further outbreak of Covid-19. This will result in delays in delivery for all types of mail. |
Luxembourg
Date of alert:
| 7th of December 2020, ongoing |
| Expected delay:
| 4-7 days |
| Country:
| Luxembourg |
| Reason for service alert:
| In order to minimise the impact of Covid-19 Luxembourg Post is forced to adjust their operations in order to secure the health and safety of their employees. They informed us this will result in delays in delivery and will last till further notice. |
Malta
Date of alert:
| 7th of December 2020, ongoing |
| Expected delay:
| 7-14 days |
| Country:
| Malta |
| Reason for service alert:
| In order to minimise the impact of Covid-19 Malta Post is forced to adjust their operations in order to secure the health and safety of their employees. They informed us this will result in delays in delivery and will last till further notice. Due to general transport capacity scarcity regarding this destination, we expect an additional delay. |
France (FR)
Date of alert:
| 7th of October 2020, ongoing |
| Expected delay:
| unknown |
| Country:
| France |
| Reason for service alert:
| Update 7th of October: Heavy rainfalls caused flooding’s in the regions surrounding Nice and therefor disrupting transport to and from these areas and local infrastructure. This may lead to delays in delivery and collection of mail and parcels.
Update 25th of September: La Poste has increased the number of collection days to 5 days. Delays are still applicable for delivery on (Express) mail volumes but will be less than before. Update 23th April: The local postal operator (La Poste) has reduced operating hours. Therefore we expect significant delays for deliveries of mail and packets in France. Parcels to France have normal operating hours, however our network partners all warn for delays due to an overloaded network. |