THE International Air Transport Association (IATA) has issued 10 New Year cargo resolutions for the global air cargo industry as adoption of the electronic air waybill (e-AWB) missed the 2016 target.
Penetration of e-AWB reached 48.9 per cent in December 2016, with a 682,664 digital documents on feasible trade lanes, again falling short of the full-year target of 56 per cent.
Top of IATA's list is 'embrace e-commerce growth' which accelerated 23.7 per cent in 2016. 'Online sales are on the increase, demand is high as well as the need for quick delivery, which creates a significant opportunity for air cargo,' said IATA cargo chief Glyn Hughes.
However, according to the latest e-cargo briefing by IATA, an e-AWB penetration rate of 62 per cent can be achieved by the end of 2017, using a forecasting model based on the historical achievement.
The second of IATA's top priorities is 'remove paper,' of which Mr Hughes said: 'Today one air cargo shipment can still require up to 30 pieces of paper. The industry needs to accelerate the implementation of end-to-end paperless transportation processes through implementation of programmes such e-freight and e-AWB.'
The remaining eight resolution topics are: enhance the movement of trade, standardized processes for transport of time and temperature sensitive goods, collaborate to combat illegal trafficking, eliminate rogue lithium batteries shippers, one digital language, implement piece level tracking, stay positive, and never forget.
As part of the process to encourage further e-AWB adoption by airlines and forwarders, IATA has launched an e-AWB implementation playbook in pdf format, which presents the different steps to go through for successful implementation.
IATA said that the air cargo industry processed more than 2.3 million air waybills in November 2016, with three main regions representing 75 per cent of the AWBs: Europe, Asia Pacific and North Asia.
All of the topics in the resolutions list will be discussed at the IATA World Cargo Symposium which takes place in Abu Dhabi on March 14-16.