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.
Current events
Delayed delivery due to COVID-19
Date of alert:
| 9 September 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. Brazil: 20 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 or other reasons
Date of alert:
| 9 September 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.
|
Ireland (IE)
Date of original alert:
| 9 September 2021, ongoing |
| Average delay:
| 1-5 days |
| Country:
| Ireland |
| Reason for service alert:
| Due to COVID-19 measures we are currently experiencing delays in the delivery of all types of mail and parcels in Ireland. |
United States (US)
Date of original alert:
| 3 September 021, ongoing |
| Average delay:
| 2-5 days |
| Country:
| United States |
| Reason for service alert:
| Due to hurricane Ida, we are currently we are experiencing delays in the delivery of all types of mail and parcels in New Jersey and New York. |
Greece (GR)
Date of original alert:
| 19 August 2021, ongoing |
| Average delay:
| 3-5 days |
| Country:
| Greece |
| Reason for service alert:
| Due to technical issues, the Greek Postal services are currently unable to perform customs declarations, which causes a delay in the delivery of parcels. |
Portugal (PT)
Date of original alert:
| 19 August 2021, ongoing |
| Average delay:
| 3-5 days |
| Country:
| Portugal |
| Reason for service alert:
| Due to the new European VAT regulations, there is a delay in the delivery of parcels in Portugal. |
Afghanistan (AF)
Date of original alert:
| 19 August 2021, ongoing |
| Average delay:
| no delivery |
| Country:
| Afghanistan |
| Reason for service alert:
| Due to the change of political power in Afghanistan we are currently not able to deliver mail or parcels there. |
China (CN)
Date of original alert:
| 26 July 2021, ongoing |
| Average delay:
| 7 - 14 days |
| Country:
| China |
| Reason for service alert:
| Update 16 August: Because of heavy rain and floods, we are currently also unable to deliver mail and parcels in the following areas: Yingshan County - 511322
26 July: Because of heavy rain and floods, we are currently unable to deliver mail and parcels in the following areas: Henan Province (453000-459018, 461000-467544, 471000-477297)
Because of COVID-19, we are currently unable to deliver mail and parcels in: Lukou Jiedao (211113)
|
United States (US)
Original date of alert:
| 12 May 2021, ongoing |
| Average delay:
| 7 - 14 days |
| Country:
| United States |
| Reason for service alert:
| Update 16 July: There are still delays in processing at United States Postal Service (USPS) nationwide due to the COVID-19 measures. Delays can measure up between 7 to 21 days on top of normal transit times. 12 May: Delays at Chicago Airport now measure up to 14-21 days due to high volumes and impact in operations caused by COVID-19.
|
Australia (AU)
Date of alert:
| 2 July 2021, ongoing |
| Average delay:
| 3 - 7 days |
| Country:
| Australia |
| Reason for service alert:
| Australia Post is experiencing disruptions to its daily operations due to COVID-19 measures imposed by the government. |
Cayman Islands (KY)
Date of alert:
| 23 April 2021, ongoing |
| Average delay:
| no service |
| Country:
| Cayman Islands |
| Reason for service alert:
| Due to transport issues caused by COVID-19, we are currently not able to provide any services to the Cayman Islands. |
China (CN)
Date of alert:
| 28 June 2021, ongoing |
| Average delay:
| No service |
| Country:
| China |
| Reason for service alert:
| China Post has communicated that due to covid-19 restrictive measures the area of Jin'nan and Yu'an, both in Lu'an city with postal code 237000 are experiencing delayed deliveries. Some areas around Guangzhou currently have no service at all. This concerns the postal codes: 510360, 510370, 510375, 510378, 510380-51382, 510385, 510388, 523130-523148 and 523133. Updates on the situation will be published as soon as they come in. |
Romania (RO)
Date of alert:
| 18 June 2021, ongoing |
| Average delay:
| 14 days |
| Country:
| Romania |
| Reason for service alert:
| Romania Post has IT issues with processing electronic customs (ITMATT) data. They are forced to process the data manually which is causing delays in transit times. The impact concerns all types of goods (packets and parcels) originating from non-EU countries that require customs clearance.. |
Bermuda (BM)
Original date of alert:
| 12 May 2021, ongoing |
| Average delay:
| No service |
| Country:
| Bermuda |
| Reason for service alert:
| Update 11 June: Staff are now out of quarantine but, due to COVID-19 related transportation issues, we are still unable to provide services to Bermuda. 12 May: Bermuda Post Office informs us that staff at Bermuda’s office of exchange have been asked to self-quarantine until advised by local health authorities to return to work. Due to this measure they are unable to pick up international mail from the airport, and to transport, process and deliver mail locally. |
Belarus (BY)
Date of alert:
| 26 may 2021, ongoing |
| Average delay:
| 4 - 7 days |
| Country:
| Belarus |
| Reason for service alert:
| Due to the flying restrictions to Belarus, we are forced to use trucks. This will result in a delay of approximately 7 days on top of the normal transit times. |
Romania (RO)
Date of alert:
| 21 may 2021, ongoing |
| Average delay:
| 14 - 28 days |
| Country:
| Romania |
| Reason for service alert:
| Due to the high volumes because of COVID-19, significant delays have been reported for postal items with destination Romania. Romanian Post has difficulties in processing all letter and parcel dispatches. In some cases, delays can measure up to 28 days. |
Turkmenistan (TM)
Date of alert:
| 22 april 2021, ongoing |
| Average delay:
| no service |
| Country:
| Turkmenistan |
| Reason for service alert:
| Due to transport issues caused by COVID-19, we are currently not able to provide any services to Turkmenistan. |
Greece (GR)
Date of original alert:
| 7 april 2021, ongoing |
| Average delay:
| 7-14 days |
| Country:
| Greece |
| Reason for service alert:
| Update 22 July: the Greek postal service is still processing backlogs, but the delay has now been reduced to 3-7 days. High inbound volumes and ongoing staffing challenges make that Hellenic Post Greece are unable to process mail in a timely manner. They are currently processing mail which arrived in March and are giving priority to post originated from PostNL. |
Malta (MT)
Date of original alert:
| 7th of December 2020, ongoing |
| Expected delay:
| 7-14 days |
| Country:
| Malta |
| Reason for service alert:
| Update 22 July: Despite the fact that there is now a little less transport scarcity, the delay is unfortunately still the same. 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. |
Solved
Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland and The Netherlands
Date of original alert:
| 16 July 2021, ongoing |
| Average delay:
| 0 - 4 days |
| Country:
| Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland and The Netherlands |
| Reason for service alert:
| Update 30 July, Germany: The following areas that were affected by the flooding are not facing anymore delays: Essen, Muehldorf, Eschweiler, Leverkusen, Wuppertal. The following areas are still heavily affected: Bonn, Daun, Mayen. Update 29 July: In the North-Eastern part of Luxembourg the recent floods are still causing delays in the delivery of all mail and parcels. The following areas have been affected: 10xx, 29xx, 58xx, 59xx, 64xx, 65xx, 66xx, 67xx, 68xx, 74xx, 75xx, 94xx. Update 22 July: although the delays in delivery in The Netherlands have been solved, there are still delays in the delivery of letter and parcel in the following areas: BE: The eastern and southern part of Belgium seen from Brussels. DE: The areas within the postal codes 42XXX, 44XXX, 45XXX, 50XXX, 52XXX, 53XXX, 54XXX, 56XXX, 58XXX and 95XXX. LU: North eastern part of Luxembourg. CH: North and Central part of Switzerland Due to flooding in several areas in Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland and The Netherlands, there are delays in the delivery of all types of mail and parcels. The affected areas are:
|
New Zealand (NZ)
Original date of alert:
| 16 June 2021, ongoing |
| Average delay:
| solved |
| Country:
| New Zealand |
| Reason for service alert:
| Update 22 June: delivery operations are running again. However it’ll be a while before everything is back to normal again as the main road network throughout the Canterbury region of the South Island remains significantly adversely impacted. 16 June: Due to heavy rain in the South Island of New Zealand a state of emergency has been declared for the entire Canterbury region and delivery operations have been suspended there. Transport, processing, and delivery operations for the entire South Island (postcodes 7000 to 9999) are likely to be disrupted, and New Zealand Post has declared a situation of force majeure. |
Poland (PL)
Date of alert:
| 23 April, ongoing |
| Average delay:
| solved |
| Country:
| Poland |
| Reason for service alert:
| Due to a lack of staff and high mail volumes at Poland Post there are delays processing all types of mail and parcels in Poland. |
Germany (DE)
Date of alert:
| 14th of December 2020, ongoing |
| Expected delay:
| solved |
| 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. |
Luxembourg (LU)
Date of alert:
| 7th of December 2020 |
| Expected delay:
| solved |
| 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. |
Hong Kong (HK)
Date of alert:
| 11th of December 2020 |
| Expected delay:
| Solved |
| 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. |
Lebanon (LB)
Date of alert:
| 22 June 2021 |
| Average delay:
| Solved |
| Country:
| Lebanon |
| Reason for service alert:
| Due to a general strike across Lebanon all LibanPost facilities are currently closed, and there won’t be any scanning, delivery or collection of any type of mail until further notice. |
Sri Lanka (LK)
Date of alert:
| 26 may 2021 |
| Average delay:
| Solved |
| Country:
| Sri Lanka |
| Reason for service alert:
| Due to the rise of COVID-19 cases in Sri Lanka, new measures have been implemented. All delivery of inbound mail is suspended with immediate effect and will last until 7 June. The airport is still open to receive mail, but there will be no delivery of any type of mail or parcel during this period. |
Israel and Palestinian Territories
Date of alert:
| 18 may 2021 |
| Average delay:
| Solved |
| Country:
| Israel and Palestinian territories |
| Reason for service alert:
| Due to the current events in the Gaza Strip, postal operations will be subject to interruptions and delays until further notice. For now, it will be difficult to provide postal services for the following postal codes:
Gaza: P840–P899 Khan Younes: P930–P969 Rafah: P970–P999 North Gaza: P800–P839 |
Australia (AU)
Date of alert:
| 14 may 2021 |
| Average delay:
| solved |
| Country:
| Australia |
| Reason for service alert:
| Due to the cancelations of flights of several carriers, we are no longer able to fly all of our post volumes towards Australia within the expected time frame. Impact on Melbourne and Perth is limited, but for Sydney, this will result in delays. |
France (FR)
Date of alert:
| 4 May 2021 |
| Average delay:
| solved |
| Country:
| France |
| Reason for service alert:
| Update 4 May: Colis Privé has worked hard over the past week to get the IT issues resolved. As of yesterday the delivery scans are available again. Today and tomorrow more tracking events will become available for live shipments. Also tracking updates will be done in the systems on items delivered last week. Pick up points are unavailable for the time being but are expected to re-open on 10 May. Now second delivery attempts will be made on appointment with the recipients – so that they don’t have to do a collection themselves. Colis Privé reassured their partners that no data has been leaked or lost and has taken additional security measures. 30 April: Due to IT problems, all systems of French carrier Colis Privé were out of order. Because of this, no tracking could take place on parcels since 23 April. Full tracking is expected to be visible again from 4 May. |
Nepal (NP)
Date of alert:
| 6 May 2021 |
| Average delay:
| solved |
| Country:
| Nepal |
| Reason for service alert:
| Due to a COVID-19 outbreak, Nepal has closed its airport and we are currently not able to provide any services to Nepal. Nepal Post informs us that the airport will reopen again on 12 May. |
France (FR)
Date of alert:
| 8 March 2021 |
| Expected delay:
| Solved |
| Country:
| France |
| Reason for service alert:
| La Poste is still experiencing high parcel volumes in their network. Due to the measures taken in order to prevent further outbreak of Covid-19 they are not able to process all volumes within standard processing time. Delays can measure up to 5-7 days on top of the normal transit times. |
Canada (CA)
Date of alert:
| 30 April 2021 |
| Average delay:
| Solved |
| Country:
| Canada |
| Reason for service alert:
| For the coming two weeks we are unable to facilitate mail and parcel traffic to the Toronto Air Mail Unit (AMU) due to the outbreak of COVID-19 in the warehouse of Canadian Post. All volumes destined for Toronto will be sent to Montreal instead. |
Italy (IT)
Date of alert:
| 11th of December 2020 |
| Expected delay:
| Solved |
| 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 |
Indonesia (ID)
Date of alert:
| 16th of April 2021 |
| Expected delay:
| Solved |
| Country:
| Indonesia |
| Reason for service alert:
| Extreme weather conditions within Indonesia have resulted in extensive flooding. Because of this Pos Indonesia has limited delivery to the following postcodes: Kupang 850xx, Soe: 855xx, Atambua: 857xx, Maumere: 861xx, Ende: 863xx, Komodo: 867xx, Waingapu: 871xx |
Australia (AU)
Date of alert:
| 23 March 2021 |
| Average delay:
| solved |
| Country:
| Australia |
| Reason for service alert:
| Extreme weather conditions in Australia in particular for New South Wales (NSW) and Southern Queensland (QLD) have resulted in extensive flooding. Australia Post has limited delivery to the following postcodes:
In addition a number of post offices in the impacted areas are closed.
|
Brazil (BR)
Date of alert:
| 23 March 2021 |
| Average delay:
| solved |
| Country:
| Brazil |
| Reason for service alert:
| Due to the critical COVID-19 situation in Brazil, the city of São Paulo has decreed an emergency 10-day holiday, from 26 March to 4 April 2021. During this time there will be very limited delivery of all mail and parcels Postcode areas impacted: 01000-000 to 05999-999 08000-000 to 08499-999. |
United States (US)
Date of alert:
| 8th of March 2021 |
| Average delay:
| solved |
| Country:
| United States |
| Reason for service alert:
| All offices of exchange in the US are open and processing well. We do however still experience delays in processing at the USPS nationwide due to the measures taken in order to prevent further outbreak of Covid-19. Delays can measure up between 7 to 14 days on top of normal transit times
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 |
Chile (CL)
Date of alert:
| 9 april 2021 |
| Average delay:
| Solved |
| Country:
| Chile |
| Reason for service alert:
| CorreosChile have informed us that, due to increasing COVID-19 cases, new restrictions have been implemented and Chile has closed its borders. Postal services will therefore be suspended until further notice. |
France (FR)
Date of alert:
| 7 October 2020 |
| Expected delay:
| Solved |
| Country:
| France |
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. |
United Kingdom (UK)
Date of alert:
| 12th of January 2021 |
| Expected delay:
| Solved |
| 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. |
Spain (ES)
Date of alert:
| 12th of January 2021 |
| Expected delay:
| Solved |
| 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. |