Paper-free air freight era begins

The International Air Transport Association (IATA), working with seven cargo airlines — Air Canada, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, KLM, Martinair, SAS, and Singapore Airlines — and several freight forwarders such as DHL Global Forwarding, Panalpina, Kuehne+Nagel, Schenker, TMI Group-Roadair, and Jetspeed, and ground handling agents, kick-started the move to a paper-free air cargo environment with the launch of six e-freight pilot projects. Starting yesterday, cargo on key trade routes connecting Canada, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Singapore, Sweden, and the U.K will be processed electronically. “The paper-free era for air freight begins today,” said Giovanni Bisignani, director general and CEO of IATA. “This first wave of pilots will pave the way for a global rollout of e-freight that will eliminate the paper that costs this industry $1.2 billion every year. Combined, these documents could fill 39 B747 cargo freighters each year making e-freight — a win for the business and for the environment.”

E-freight is a bold step for an important industry. For airlines it is a $55 billion business which generates 12 percent of their revenues. Air cargo transports 35 percent of the total value of goods traded across borders. Greater efficiency in the air cargo system would thus have broad implications across the global economy. E-freight pilots will test for the first time common standards, processes, procedures and systems designed to replace paper documents which typically accompany air freight with electronic information. During the initial phase, selected shipments will travel without a number of key documents that make up the majority of the paperwork, including the house and master air waybills. Results from the pilots will be used to expand e-freight to other territories. IATA e-freight requires that business, technical, and legal frameworks are in place to allow airlines, freight forwarders, customs administrations, and governments seamlessly to exchange electronic information and e-documents. The six pilot locations were selected based on their ability to meet these criteria along with offering network connectivity and sufficient cargo volumes.

Bisignani said that high oil prices and cumbersome processing requirements are handicapping air transport’s competitiveness with sea shipping. Sea shipping is expected to grow at 6 percent annually over the next five years, compared to 4.8 percent for air cargo. “E-freight makes a four-decade leap, bringing strengthened competitiveness by cutting costs and improving transparency and consistency throughout the supply chain. This good news for the customer will help shore-up air transport’s competitiveness with sea shipping and other modes of transport,” he said