Carriers on course to miss IATA’s e-AWB goal again this year

The target for the electronic air waybill (e-AWB) keeps getting readjusted to be easier to reach each year, yet the industry continues to fall short in its adoption rates. So far, 2016 appears to be no different.

As we move into October, carriers are on track to miss IATA’s e-AWB penetration goal of 56 percent by the year’s end, at current growth rates, based on the industry association’s August numbers. Penetration for e-AWB rose to 40.5 percent in August, up 0.9 percentage points over July’s 39.4 percent, but it is a growth rate far below what is needed to hit the mark.

The data-sharing program was developed collaboratively with industry stakeholders, and removes the requirement for a paper Air Waybill (AWB). According to IATA, some international airfreight shipments can require more than 30 separate paper documents, underscoring the importance of digitization.

That said, e-AWB adoption has been slow, rising only a few percentage points from 36.4 percent at the beginning of 2016. In response, IATA rolled out eAWB360, an industry “call-to-action” initiative at selected airports having a favorable regulatory and operational environment.

“The electronic air waybill initiative remains our flagship initiative towards a paperless air cargo industry. It is at the heart of the industry transport process,” IATA said. “If we can digitize it, we will have achieved a key step towards the paperless freight vision.”

Penetration rates in major markets such as the United States and Germany remain low, and are especially unwieldy impediments to the achievement of the organization’s goals. The U.S. adoption rate stood at 37.2 percent in August, despite leading in terms of the absolute number of e-AWBs. Germany’s rate registered only 27.9 percent, despite processing the sixth highest number of e-AWBs.

For IATA to reach its global goals, major air cargo markets will need to digitize faster than they currently are.

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