The IATA e-freight project aims to take the paper out of air cargo. Facilitated by IATA, the project is an industry-wide initiative involving carriers, freight forwarders, ground handlers, shippers and customs authorities.
Each air cargo shipment carries with it as many as 30 paper documents – enough to fill 80 Boeing 747 freighters every year. IATA e-freight will replace 13 of these documents with electronic messages.
Key benefits include:
- Lower costs: industry savings of US$1.2 billion annually
- Faster service: a reduced cycle time of an average of 24 hours
- Greater reliability and accuracy: one-time electronic data entry at point of origin
- Better visibility: electronic documentations allows for online track and trace functionality
Project information:
Quotes:
- “The launch of IATA e-freight in Dubai takes us into a new, more efficient era for air cargo. Emirates has been ont of the key supporters of this initiative, as we see clear benefits in having paper-free operations.” - Ram Menen, Emirates Divisional Senior Vice-President of Cargo.
- “With paperless freight transport, together with our customers, we move the industry forward, because e-freight not only improves the data quality, but above all, also increases efficiency and, in addition, spares the environment. We would therefore like to quickly acquire as many customers as possible for paperless freight transport”. Carsten Spohr, Chairman of the Board, Lufthansa Cargo.
- “This is the beginning of a new era in airfreight. This new very efficient program not only improves the data quality and saves costs, it also cuts down on paper. We are proud to be one of the first freight forwarders to contribute to this environmentally best-practice initiative. In the past, we have seen delays in shipments arriving at the airport with missing documentation. E-freight is intended to help us minimise these cases”. – Ron Koehler, CEO, Schenker Australia Pty Ltd.