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20.11.2020
As the end of 2020 approaches, Latvijas Pasts encourages customers to make purchases in international online stores and send presents for the end-of-the-year holidays abroad in time. In the final months of the year the amount of postal items traditionally increases all over the world, but this year the influence of COVID-19 is also a significant factor, which, considering the imposed restrictions, has a negative impact on both transportation options and potential delivery times. In order for the items to reach the addressee before the upcoming holidays, it is recommended to send the items to countries on other continents by the end of November, while sending items within Europe should be planned no later than the beginning of December. The last day for delivery of items before Christmas this year in Latvia is the 23rd of December and for delivery before the turn of the year – the 30th of December.
The final months of the year, particularly December, are traditionally the time when the volume of postal items and the workload of postal establishments throughout the world increase several times. Therefore every year Latvijas Pasts reminds customers of the most essential conditions to consider when planning online shopping and sending presents in this busy period. An important additional factor this year is the negative impact of COVID-19, which affects the options and times of item delivery.
When planning the desired time for the delivery of items, one should take into account the distance to the addressee’s country: the farther the destination, the longer the item is likely to travel, especially if there is no direct air traffic between the countries at all and the item moves in transit from one country to another. It should be taken into consideration that even in Europe items may require a longer time to get transported: if the postal operator of the country of dispatch does not have the opportunity to use direct air traffic for the delivery of an item, but routes the item from one country to another, including through cargo transportation by road, the item in transit may get delayed for several weeks.
International passenger traffic between many countries is suspended or restricted as a result of the measures taken worldwide to contain the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, which has led to ongoing restrictions and delays in the exchange of postal items with some foreign countries. This is linked to the fact that most international items are delivered by passenger aircraft, which currently have insufficient capacity for postal items, so any other modes of delivery are being sought, including by land, water and rail.
Deliveries are also delayed due to congestion of items and queues at international transit airports, from where they are forwarded to other recipient countries. Item processing and delivery conditions that prevent items from reaching recipients on time may be present in each individual country; besides, they may be changed at any time depending on national security considerations of every country. For these reasons any timelines and quality standards for delivery of postal items are not being followed.
Current information on the possibilities of delivery of international postal items from Latvia during COVID-19 is regularly updated and is available on the website of Latvijas Pasts: https://pasts.lv/en/For_Individuals/postage/covid-19-impacts-on-delivery-services/
Taking into consideration the above factors, the latest time to send end-of-the-year presents to countries on other continents should be the end of November, and in Europe – no later than the beginning of December.
It is important for the sender to make sure that the stamps of a suitable face value are affixed to the item: if the item is prepared for sending in the post office, the needed value will be accurately determined by the postal employees, but if the sender affixes the stamps himself or herself, it is recommended to double-check the information in the pricelist, which can be found on the website of Latvijas Pasts, or use the available tariff calculator, which is a handy tool for calculating the cost of sending an item.
Latvijas Pasts would like to remind you that the last day for delivery of items before Christmas this year in Latvia is the 23rd of December and for delivery before the turn of the year – the 30th of December.
About SJSC Latvijas Pasts
Latvijas Pasts ensures the widest availability of postal services throughout Latvia by maintaining more than 600 post offices. The primary function of the company is provision of the universal postal service; Latvijas Pasts also provides commercial transport, express mail, payment, press subscription, retail and philatelic services. Latvijas Pasts is a wholly State-owned company with about 3,200 employees. The quality measurements of Latvijas Pasts domestic mail deliveries are regularly conducted by Kantar TNS, one of the leading market, social and media research agencies in Latvia. In turn, the quality measurements of the cross-border deliveries are provided within the framework of the International Post Corporation through the intermediary of the research companies Kantar TNS, Ipsos and Quotas.
Additional information:
Gundega Vārpa | Head of External Communications
E-mail: pr@pasts.lv; gundega.varpa@pasts.lv
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