IATA: El Al Israel Airlines is the 34th airline to join e-freight

The e-freight initiative aims to take the paper out of the air cargo supply chain and replace it with cheaper, more accurate and more reliable electronic messaging
 
 
El Al Israel Airlines is the 34th airline to join the league of e-freight live airlines worldwide that offer paper free air cargo. The airline completed its first paperless cargo shipment on the Tel Aviv – Frankfurt trade lane this month.
 
The e-freight initiative aims to take the paper out of the air cargo supply chain and replace it with cheaper, more accurate and more reliable electronic messaging. Facilitated by IATA, the project is an industry-wide initiative involving carriers, freight forwarders, ground handlers, shippers and customs authorities.
 
  El Al is a key player in Israel’s air cargo industry and their participation in the e-freight live network is instrumental to increasing e-freight volumes to and from Israel. This is also another step towards the 2011 IATA Board target of reaching volumes representing 10% penetration on worldwide live trade lanes.
 
Israel has been e-freight live since November 2010 and the network includes Israeli customs, El Al, Swiss and Lufthansa, Brinks Global Services, Flying Cargo International Transportation and Orian Ltd.
 
The e-freight initiative is one of five components of Iata's StB programme that is working to streamline operations including bar-coded boarding passes, a baggage improvement programme, the Fast Travel programme through automated passenger assistance as well as e-services. According to Iata's annual report, its e-freight initiative will replace "paper documents with electronic messages. This makes for faster, more reliable air freight. Potential annual savings: US$4.9 billion."