Amsterdam Schiphol honours Rhenus Logistics for e-freight leadership
Rhenus Logistics won Schiphol’s Cargo Award due to its “innovative and trendsetting policy in connection with the development of e-freight and its commitment to a paperless supply chain,” according to a Schiphol press release issued on March 13.
The awards, presented annually, recognise companies who have made outstanding contributions to passenger or cargo transport over the past year. For the first time in eight years, a freight forwarder was given the Cargo Award.
“IATA e-freight allows us to provide better, faster and more reliable service to our customers,” said Ivo Aris, Air Division Director for Rhenus BV. “We also look forward to increasing the number of e-freight shipments to take advantage of the efficiencies offered by this product."
Switzerland goes e-freight live; Pakistan, Thailand pass HLA
Switzerland became the 19th live e-freight location in February, joining the global movement to take the paper out of air cargo. The first e-freight compliant transactions in the country were performed on trade lanes between Zurich and Chicago, Hong Kong, Singapore and London.
The introduction of e-freight at Zurich Airport, led by Swiss WorldCargo, was accomplished in a remarkably short time scale and involved the broadest representation of the local air freight community.
Cargo carriers (Singapore Airlines Cargo, Air Canada), freight forwarders (Lamprecht, DB Schenker, DHL Global Forwarding and SPEDLOGSWISS), ground handling agents (Cargologic), the federal office of civil aviation (BAZL) and customs authorities have all been working closely with Swiss WorldCargo and the IATA e-freight team for the successful and timely launch of the initiative.
An important role was also played by the ground handling agents at destination, namely Lufthansa Cargo in Chicago, Singapore Airport Terminal Services and Swissport in Singapore and London, and AAT in Hong Kong.
IATA e-freight is an initiative by the supply chain, for the supply chain,” said Steve Smith, IATA e-freight Project Director. “The go-live in Switzerland was a great example of the entire supply chain working together to lower costs and increase the reliability and speed of airfreight.”
Pakistan and Thailand passed the IATA e-freight High Level Assessment (HLA) this month. The addition of these countries to the e-freight pipeline illustrates the building momentum of the industry-wide initiative to take paper out of the supply chain. The two locations will now undergo a Detailed Level Assessment (DLA) later this year prior to beginning e-freight implementation.