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Wednesday, November 14, 2012

■ ETHIOPIA: Ethiopian Airlines to launch e-freight initiative by year's end.

Ethiopian
In a bid to reduce both the amount of paperwork and time needed to process airway bills and other travel documents necessary for cargo shipments, Ethiopian Airlines (ET) will, by the end of the year, introduce e-freight to certain cargo destinations.


IATA e-freight explained (IATA)
IATA e-freight in a nutshell (IATA)

However, before participating in the e-freight initiative, Ethiopian must first fulfil several IATA criteria amongst which include a High Level Assessment (HLA) and a Detailed Level Assessment (DLA).
"Ethiopian has already passed HLA and is finishing with the DLA, according to an official in the cargo department involved in the project. In addition, if a country is to send cargo using e-freight system, it needs to be a signatory of an international agreement that the destination country is a participant of."

The e-freight project is an industry-wide initiative involving carriers, freight forwarders, ground handlers, shippers and customs authorities. Eliminating paper documents will save between USD3.1 and 4.9billion industry-wide, in addition to the obvious environmental ramifications. IATA is aiming at 100% e-freight penetration in the industry by 2015.