IATA Urges Air Cargo Modernization

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) called on the air cargo industry to accelerate modernization and focus on delivering high quality service. The call was made at the 11th World Cargo Symposium, which opened in Abu Dhabi today against a backdrop of cautious optimism for the global air cargo sector as demand began to rise in the second half of 2016 after years of stagnation. January cargo performance showed a 7% growth in demand compared to the previous year. “Listening to the customer has never been more important. The positive forces currently supporting growth are good news. But our customers are telling us that they expect more. Complicated and convoluted paper-based processes are still being used in air cargo today. Our customers pay a premium to ship by air and they rightly expect modern processes and high quality services,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO. As such, De Juniac focused his attention on a key area for industry transformation: Simple modern electronic processes. The industry has been pursuing a digital process transformation known as e-freight for over a decade. A key element of e-freight is the market adoption of the e-air waybill (eAWB). This feature is the first and unavoidable first stepping stone towards a full digitalization of the air freight documentation. Shippers today want responsive services based on intelligent systems able to self-monitor, send real-time alerts and respond to deviation. Technologically speaking, this is totally possible. The key to this and other innovations is using data efficiently and effectively. Finding solutions to unfulfilled (or even unrealized) expectations creates value for customers. And that propels a business forward.” The response to that is clear: “It is imperative for the air cargo community to digitalize.” Jorge Torrent, GTD’s director for Air Freight Solution is adamant about that last point. “We are a complex value chain, so building industry consensus is critical. To be successful we must work in strong partnerships,” added de Juniac. “Air Freight Solution is a product that addresses the points raised by IATA” declares Torrent. “These are the reasons why GTD and GPA have embarked in the creation of Air Freight Solution, the Spanish Cargo Community System (CCS). We have seen the market demanding the solutions pointed out by IATA repeatedly, and ther eis a clear search for a single solution, a cargo community system, for their air transport operations. This adds value to their product and ensures a significant decrease in mistakes” he said. Air Freight Solution is already being marketed, and the user companies have already shown a great satisfaction with the results achieved by the new air CCS. Source: IATA Edited by: GPA