The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has earmarked 11 new locations as ready for ticketless e-freight. These are USA, Dubai, Luxembourg, France, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Iceland, Denmark and Norway.Since 2007, e-freight has been operational in six locations: Canada, Sweden, UK, Hong Kong, Singapore and the Netherlands. A further three - Germany, Mauritius and South Korea - have launched projects to go live within 2008. Five of the 11 new locations will be selected to launch e-freight in 2008 with the remaining targeted for launch in 2009.

“The momentum to rid air cargo of costly paper processes is building quickly,” said Giovanni Bisignani, Director General and CEO of IATA. “Already we are live in six locations today. We will be operating at 14 locations by year-end.”

IATA e-freight requires that business, technical and legal frameworks are in place to allow airlines, freight forwarders, customs administrations and governments to seamlessly exchange electronic information and e-documents instead of paper.

In the months ahead, teams of experts from participating airlines, freight forwarders, shippers and customs organisations in each location will create local implementation teams. Their efforts will be supported and guided by IATA standards, e-freight operating processes and one-time data entry.

“The industry is in crisis. Record fuel prices and sagging demand growth will drive an industry loss of US$2.3 billion during 2008,” said Bisignani. “We need to simplify and modernise our business. 100% e-ticketing was an important step forward. E-freight is another. It will deliver much-needed efficiency and US$1.2 billion in cost savings while responding to shippers’ demands for improved reliability and more speed.”

E-freight is one of six Simplifying the Business projects being led by IATA to improve service and cut costs. The industry has set a deadline of the end of 2010 for the implementation of e-freight where feasible.
——-