Gulf Air Cargo claims to be one of few in region ready for e-freight

BAHRAIN flag carrier Gulf Air has launched an electronic Air Way Bill (e-AWB) with its first cargo shipment under the programme being moved from Bahrain to Dubai.

Gulf Air has joined the ranks of a very few e-freight capable airlines in the region, said the company. The move also marks another important environment-friendly initiative as the e-AWB reduces the use of tonnes of paper used for filling in several forms and documents, reported Arabian Aerospace Online News Service.

"This is indeed a great achievement as it involves several stakeholders in the entire cargo supply chain such as freight forwarders, handling agents and customs and civil aviation authorities to ensure the seamless electronic process from beginning to end," said Gulf Air CEO Samer Majali.

"We are hopeful of turning our Bahrain hub into a complete e-freight station by the middle of 2014 with support from Bahrain Civil Aviation Authority, Bahrain Airport Company, Bahrain Airport Services and freight forwarders in tune with IATA's vision of achieving 100 per cent e-freight by 2015."

Said Gulf Air cargo chief Khalid Faqih: "In today's electronic world, air cargo still relies heavily on paper documentation with each international air freight shipment requiring over 20 different paper documents; this not only increases the cost of air freight but also delays the transit period."

With the e-AWB implementation, all cargo will be tagged with bar code labels in accordance with IATA's cargo specifications, making it easier for the airline as well the customer to track and follow the cargo while in transit.

The e-AWB will be introduced across Gulf Air's network progressively in the coming months as it requires parties in the entire supply chain to modify their systems capable of accepting and approving e-AWB information.