e-Air Waybills (e-AWB) - international volume by month 2016-2020
The statistic shows the worldwide monthly number of electronic-Air Waybills (e-AWBs) from January 2016 to September 2020. In September 2020, under 837,000 of e-AWBs were used for freight operations by selected airlines.
Paperless cargo processes – the e-freight program
Implemented in 2006, IATA’s e-freight initiative intends to transform the air cargo industry into a paperless process by switching to the use of electronic data and messages to exchange information along the supply chain. With more than 30 paper documents being handled for each shipment, the electronic Air Waybill (e-AWB) comes in place to reduce the freight waiting time, enhance track and tracing processes and information security and, last but not least, reduce paper consumption.
Cathay Pacific was the first airline to implement this initiative in January 2011; other companies, including Aeroméxico, American Airlines, Air Canada and Delta Air Lines, made the swap to electronic air waybill their favorite method of shipping. By 2014, some 24 percent of all bills generated from freight operations were e-AWBs.
As of October 2018, the penetration rate stood at 58.5 percent, and efforts are currently made by all participating parties to meet the December 2018 target of 68 percent. Therefore, IATA’s eAWB360 campaign aims to expedite the move to electronic air waybills at selected e-airports by using a so-called “single process” to get as many airlines and other parties to synchronize their processes at the same place simultaneously. Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS) is one of the e-airports that joined this initiative in January 2016, followed by Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) in February 2016.
Paperless cargo processes – the e-freight program
Implemented in 2006, IATA’s e-freight initiative intends to transform the air cargo industry into a paperless process by switching to the use of electronic data and messages to exchange information along the supply chain. With more than 30 paper documents being handled for each shipment, the electronic Air Waybill (e-AWB) comes in place to reduce the freight waiting time, enhance track and tracing processes and information security and, last but not least, reduce paper consumption.
Cathay Pacific was the first airline to implement this initiative in January 2011; other companies, including Aeroméxico, American Airlines, Air Canada and Delta Air Lines, made the swap to electronic air waybill their favorite method of shipping. By 2014, some 24 percent of all bills generated from freight operations were e-AWBs.
As of October 2018, the penetration rate stood at 58.5 percent, and efforts are currently made by all participating parties to meet the December 2018 target of 68 percent. Therefore, IATA’s eAWB360 campaign aims to expedite the move to electronic air waybills at selected e-airports by using a so-called “single process” to get as many airlines and other parties to synchronize their processes at the same place simultaneously. Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS) is one of the e-airports that joined this initiative in January 2016, followed by Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) in February 2016.
