Tokyo - The International Air Transport Association (IATA) today announced the dawn of a new era for the air cargo supply chain in Japan. IATA e-freight is now operational on export between Narita and Amsterdam, Chicago, Copenhagen, Hong Kong, Incheon, London, New York, Singapore and Zurich.

IATA e-freight is one of the Simplifying the Business projects that improve service and cut costs. It aims to take the paper out of the air cargo supply chain. Facilitated by IATA, the project is an industry-wide initiative involving carriers, freight forwarders, ground handlers, shippers and customs authorities. IATA e-freight effectively eliminates the need to send 13 paper documents with air cargo shipments streamlining processes, improving speed and reliability and cutting costs.

The Japan IATA e-freight implementation team is chaired by Kunio Hirata, Senior Vice President for the Cargo and Mail Division of Japan Airlines. The team started work in April 2009 and delivered IATA e-freight on schedule. Japan becomes the 21st e-freight location worldwide to deliver paper-free cargo.

Over the past year IATA has assessed the readiness of 148 locations worldwide in addition to the original 6 e-freight sites. Of these, 44 countries, representing approximately 80% of global air-freight volumes, have the appropriate international treaties and high level customs framework in place to qualify for IATA e-freight.

IATA e-freight is also operational in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Dubai, France Germany, Hong Kong, Luxembourg, Mauritius, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States, Switzerland, and Malaysia. The industry has set a deadline of the end of 2010 for the implementation of e-freight where feasible.

Notes to editors

  • IATA (International Air Transport Association) represents some 230 airlines comprising 93% of scheduled international air traffic.
  • The Japan e-freight implementation team is chaired by Japan Airlines and comprises of the following participants:
  • Airlines
    • Air Canada
    • Air France/KLM
    • All Nippon Airways
    • American Airlines
    • British Airways
    • Cathay Pacific Airways
    • Fedex
    • Lufthansa
    • Nippon Cargo Airlines
    • Scandinavian Airlines
    • Swiss World Cargo
    • Singapore Airlines
    • United Airlines
  • Government Agencies
    • Japan Customs
  • Forwarders
    • Nippon Express
    • K Line Logistics
    • NNR Global Logistics
    • Yusen Air & Sea Service
    • DHL Global Forwarding
    • Expeditors
    • Hankyu Express
    • Kuehne&Nagel
    • Japan Post-Sankyu
    • Kintetsu World Express
    • Japan Aircargo Forwarders Association (JAFA)
  • System Providers
    • CCS Japan