BRUcloud Slot Booking App to launch next week

In the air cargo field, ground handling and technology adoption rates are recurring targets for criticism. With the launch of its new BRUcloud slot-booking service, the Brussels Airport (BRU) cargo community is set to kill two birds with one app.

The “Slot Booking App” (one of several applications on the BRUcloud data-sharing platform) is set to go live on Monday, Jan. 15, when a select number of gates at Aviapartner and Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) warehouses will be bookable in advance to forwarders via the app. Eventually, BRU and developer Nallian expect the app will be rolled out to all forwarders, ground handlers and trucking companies operating at Brussels Airport and in other cargo communities around the world.

BRU announced the gradual roll-out of the app to streamline cargo pickup and delivery at ground handling facilities back in May 2017. Through the app, forwarders will be able to request ad hoc delivery slots ahead of time, or reserve a recurring time slot. The expected benefits of the app to the airport community include the elimination of waiting times at ground handling facilities, streamlined workload and personnel planning for ground handlers, and increased optimizations generally allowed by data-sharing early in the ground-handling process.

During the first phase of the app’s roll-out, slots that are bookable through the app will be marked with the app’s logo. Companies participating in the launch include: Aviapartner, WFS Belgium, Nippon Express Belgium, DHL Global Forwarding, Kuehne + Nagel, Panalpina and Sky Fast. DHL Global Forwarding, Deutsche Post-DHL Group’s ocean- and air-forwarding arm, was the first booker of an official slot for Monday’s launch, while more than 100 slots have now been booked for the first days.