Lufthansa Cargo to charge fee for paper-based air waybills

Lufthansa Cargo will charge €12 for processing paper-based air waybills (AWB), a fee to be implemented on April 2, which may be increased in October after the introductory phase has had time to take effect. The fine is avoidable for customers who will opt to use its e-air way bills, which the carrier has offered since 2013.

By changing its policy to incentivize its existing paperless option, Lufthansa is implicitly setting an industry standard, taking a big step toward digitalization. However, given the resistance on the part of some small and medium-size forwarders to make the IT investment required to go paperless, it is possible that Lufthansa could lose some of its regular clients that may opt to switch to carriers that continue to accommodate customers that prefer to process documents traditionally.