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Emirates SkyCargo, the freight division of Dubai-based airline Emirates, has commenced its first e-freight consignment from Chennai to Dusseldorf via Dubai carrying 65 kg of cargo (mainly auto parts.)
This shipment eliminates the aspects of printing the air waybills, handling and processing costs.
E-freight allows cargo processes to be done electronically is aimed at reducing the carbon footprint. It is an air cargo 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.
IATA estimate
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimates that about $4.9 billion of industry savings could be generated and about 7,800 tonnes of paper documents eliminated annually using the e-freight corridor.
The e-freight initiative has been taken up on high priority by airlines globally with the IATAfixing 2014 as the deadline to totally erase paper from air cargo supply chain to bring about greater transparency and shorten the transportation time.
Key factors
A number of factors contribute to these positive results: reduced cycle time of 24 hours on an average, greater reliability and accuracy due to one-time data entry at the point of origin, and much better visibility in the online track on account of electronic documentation, says a press release issued by Emirates SkyCargo.
Mr Keki Patel, Cargo Manager, India and Nepal, Emirates Airline, said following the footsteps of Chennai, the airlines has its e-freight services in Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Kozhikode to various global destinations.
Cargo capacity
Emirates SkyCargo provides over 300 tonnes of cargo capacity on a weekly basis with 21 flights from Chennai to Dubai and a total of 3,191 tonnes of cargo capacity in India with 184 weekly flights, including Chennai.
Emirates carry leather goods, pharmaceuticals, readymade garments, textiles, electronics, engineering goods and spares, valuables and perishables from Chennai.
It operates one scheduled freighter aircraft to Chennai (Boeing 747-400F) in a week with a capacity of 115 tonnes payload on the routing Dubai-Chennai-Dubai, the press release says.
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