RETROSPECTIVE
Lufthansa one of the few carriers to
have excelled with e-AWB adoption
had become the first airline
group to adopt IATA’s new
DG Autocheck system for
shipment acceptance.
Ironically, one of the
reasons why the airfreight
industry struggles with
digitisation is that the airlines
were among the first users of
computers. This means that
they are saddled with legacy
systems that are difficult and
expensive to modify. Perhaps
the answer lies in developing a
system that can be introduced
step by step and which tackles
the problem from the ground
up. This is the intention
of IATA’s new ONE Record
initiative that will use modern
API technology to exchange
data and has been designed
so that users such as airlines,
handlers and freight forwarders
can progressively switch to the
new system.
People are often puzzled
that, in an age when
you can order anything
from a pizza to a robot
lawn mower online, the
airfreight process involves
so much paper. There are
initiatives to create fully
digital freight forwarders,
and while they continue to
expand – US-based ExFreight
Zeta extended its services
to Europe in late 2018, for
OFF THE RECORD
Many people have high hopes that ONE Record will finally achieve digitisation of the industry, but recognise that it is only the start of a
long journey, and no doubt one with many stoppages and cul de sacs along the way.
instance – it’s fair to say that
they have yet to take the
world by storm. However,
the idea has certainly not
gone away and existing
conventional forwarders will
no doubt also continue to
expand their online booking
capabilities in years to come.
Online… and on
Online retailing in all
its forms has become an
important customer of the
airfreight industry, although
this has lately been a bit of
a double-edged sword. The
mighty Amazon surprised
everyone a couple of years
back when it announced
that it would set up its own
airfreight arm, flying its
own freighter aircraft on key
routes. Nothing so dramatic
has happened in the past
12 months but the online
retailers continue to expand
their operations. Alibaba’s
in-house forwarder Cainiao
continued to develop its
new hub at Liège airport in
Belgium while in December
2018 it signed a deal with
Hong Kong airport to set up
a logistics hub.
Amazon also announced
a plan for a regional hub in
Dallas and in June started
work on a huge new hub at
Cincinnati that ultimately would be able to handle 100 aircraft.
Carriers continued to expand – or at least renew their fleets –
during the past 12 months. Major events included Qatar Airways’
announcement of an order for five new 777 freighters at the Paris
Airshow, while Turkish took delivery of its sixth 777F as part of
an ongoing programme in October. Lufthansa, having welcomed
its latest aircraft (yes, another 777F) in May, later announced
in early November that it would significantly accelerate the
modernisation of its fleet by purchasing two more brand-new
Boeing 777Fs but at the same time withdraw all its older MD-11
freighters by the end of 2020.
And the future?
There is no revolutionary new aircraft technology on the
horizon at the moment. There were a few developments with
cargo-carrying drones, though the amount of freight they can
carry remains minuscule. Air Canada signed a deal with Drone
Delivery Canada Corp to offer services to remote communities
and DHL signed a deal with Ehang to offer short distance
deliveries in Chinese cities. UPS also announced a scheme to
deliver vaccines to clinics in Ghana. But these are all niche
operations; pilotless, heavy commercial aircraft still seem many
years off.
While airlines have over the years expanded as weaker carriers
either fall by the wayside or are bought up by competitors, freight
forwarding remains a fragmented industry. Many observers think
that there may still be scope for further mergers and acquisitions.
Indeed, one of the industry events of the year was Switzerlandbased
Panalpina’s takeover by Denmark-based DSV, completed in
October 2019.
But perhaps one sign that airlines are rethinking the
traditional industry model was Delta’s announcement in late
October that it was partnering with Atlanta-based same-day
delivery service Roadie, to launch what it says is the first doorto
door service for a US passenger airline (more on pp.32-33).
Initially the service will be available to over 55 cities in the US
but with plans for expansion to dozens more US cities before the
end of the year. However, nothing has been said about extending
it into overseas territories – at least for the time being.
20 December 2019 www.airlogisticsinternational.com
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