Emirates Malta office well geared for e-freight

The Malta-Dubai Emirates route has classified fifth route overall on the airline’s global network in terms of shipment percentage sent under e-freight paperless conditions.

The Malta office of Emirates SkyCargo, the freight division of Emirates airline, currently exports 55 per cent of its shipments under e-freight conditions.

E-freight is a collective cargo industry initiative facilitated by the International Air Transport Association to remove all paper airway bills, documents and certificates out of the air cargo supply chain by the end of 2015. E-freight involves customs authorities, airlines, freight forwarders, ground handlers, and shippers. “Emirates SkyCargo is a leading force in the industry drive towards e-freight. The result obtained by our Malta office, placing us in the fifth place overall from over 100 destinations in six continents, is a clear result that we are well prepared to meet the 2015 target, as more and more countries and destinations adopt e-freight processes,” Anthie Antoniou, Emirates Cargo manager Cyprus and Malta explained.

Worldwide, Emirates SkyCargo already carries more international e-freight shipments than any other carrier. Apart from environmental benefits and cost reduction, the advantages of the elimination of all paper airway bills include enhanced operational efficiency, accuracy, reliability and speed in the supply chain.

“Emirates is a huge advocate of e-freight and is already one of the leaders in the industry in actual numbers of shipment carried on the e-freight lanes. We firmly believe that those who embrace the changes first, will be best placed to reap the benefits,” said Pradeep Kumar, Emirates senior vice president cargo revenue optimisation and systems said.

According to IATA, up to US $4.9 billion of annual industry savings could be generated by e-freight processes. The environment will also benefit from the elimination of 7,800 tons of paper documents worldwide, which is the equivalent of 80 Boeing 747 freighter aircraft per year.

Emirates flies from Malta to Dubai via Larnaka, Cyprus, daily.