transform the paper DGD
into electronic data, as well as
receiving electronic (e-DGD)
declarations.
Going paperless?
Air France KLM Cargo handles
over 1.5m shipments per year,
of which 173,000 require
Dangerous Goods handling,
so the new system has the
potential to save countless man
hours, as well as improve safety
and reliability.
At a presentation at
Frankfurt cargo centre
in March, Lufthansa’s
Breithaupt also confirmed
that the German carrier was
well advanced with its own
implementation of the DG
Autocheck, alongside setting
up its eDGD system.
“If you can electronicise
dangerous goods, along with a
number of other key processes,
there will be no paperwork in
airfreight anymore,” he stated.
Electronic documents would
also help centralise processes
such as dangerous goods
management and make it
quicker and more efficient.
More than with other types
of shipment, incorrect paper
documentation for dangerous
goods can wreak havoc with
the smooth running of a busy
cargo hub like Lufthansa’s
main Frankfurt terminal.
Incoming DG shipments
are checked immediately on
arrival and if an error is found
– which can be something as
simple as a wrong tick in a
box – it will probably mean
At Hactl, dealing with dangerous goods is a
daily occurrence
off the rails” when problem
shipments arrive at a busy
airfreight handling shed. It
could mean “avoiding errors
and quicker processing”. He
points out that most airlines
will need to hand any problem
shipments to a limited number
of dangerous goods specialists,
so anything that prevents
shipments from becoming an
issue in the first place will help
the smooth running of the
freight acceptance process.
An electronic-based system
will also be invaluable for
dealing with updates to the
IATA DG rules and manuals,
Navaratnarajah adds.
The digital revolution
Technologically, Lufthansa’s
eDGD system is based on
the goods being pulled out of
the queue and delayed by a
couple of days. But electronic
checking and manifesting
systems mean that errors
can be rectified immediately,
allowing the shipments to
remain in the system.
Lufthansa’s new system will
also get rid of the laborious
checking of paper manifests.
Niranjan Navaratnarajah,
who leads information
technology firm Unisys’
cargo business in Asia
Pacific, also believes that
electronic systems for DG
can help things from “going
www.airlogisticsinternational.com June 2019 17
/www.airlogisticsinternational.com
/www.airlogisticsinternational.com