Emirates SkyCargo and DHL drive e-freight agenda

Emirates SkyCargo, the cargo division of Emirates airline, and DHL Global Forwarding, the air and ocean freight forwarder of Deutsche Post DHL, will partner to drive the e-freight agenda across their networks, to become the industry leaders in implementation. Both companies recognise the strategic value of e-freight; working in an electronic environment will bring enhanced operational efficiency and improvement to the supply chain.

E-freight is an industry-led project involving carriers, freight forwarders, ground handlers, shippers and customs authorities. It aims to take the paper out of the air cargo supply chain, streamline processes, improve speed and reduce costs.

“Emirates is a huge advocate of e-freight and is already one of the leaders in the industry in actual numbers of shipment carried on the e-freight lanes,” said Ram Menen, Emirates Divisional Senior Vice President Cargo. “E-freight is the future of our industry. By reducing paper and carriage of paper on aircraft, e-freight will help to reduce errors and increase accuracy. We believe by collectively engaging we can achieve better and coordinated results.”

In 2010 alone, Emirates SkyCargo has carried nearly 30,000 international e-freight shipments – more than any other carrier.

 “DHL Global Forwarding already handles more than a third of all international forwarder-issued e-freight shipments today,” Michael Schaecher, Head of Global Airfreight, DHL Global Forwarding pointed out. “We will work with Emirates SkyCargo to ensure that driving e-freight volumes stays a key strategic programme for us.”

According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) up to US $4.9 billion of annually industry savings could be generated by e-freight processes. The environment will also benefit from the elimination of 7,800 tons of paper documents worldwide – the equivalent of 80 Boeing 747 freighter aircraft per year.