Cargo News in Brief 26 May 2022

Airblox launches live feed to support electronic block space agreement trading: Aviation fintech provider Airblox has launched a live feed of global air freight scheduled flight capacity to support users of its electronic Block Space Agreement (eBSA) booking service. Airblox’s online marketplace enables freight forwarders and airlines to trade air cargo capacity in the form of standardised eBSAs. The new live feed will enable users to view upcoming capacity and make informed business decisions by lane by making bids for, and securing eBSAs at competitive prices. “By digitising capacity in a centralised exchange in a standardised format, the market is assigning a certain value to it that can be traded,” Edip Pektas, founder of Airblox told delegates at the CNS Partnership Conference in Phoenix. “We believe that the future of air cargo capacity is as a tradable concept, and by launching this new feed, we are a step closer to giving full transparency of the scheduled global air freight capacity to our users so that they can make informed decisions.” Spot pricing will dominate air cargo bookings: Fundamental change in the air cargo booking process accelerated by COVID is here to stay due to the uptake of digitisation Awery’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Vitaly Smilianets told delegates at the CNS Partnership Conference. “A side effect of the COVID pandemic was a fundamental shift away from long term contracted rates over to spot booking as capacity shrunk and demand increased,” said Smilianets. “At the same time, the uptake of digitisation by airlines introduced huge efficiencies making pricing quicker and more responsive. Because of this, we anticipate that even as air cargo capacity increases, either through increased passenger flights or investment in freighters, the airlines won’t return to fixed rates. The change began because of COVID, but the change is here to stay because of tech,” said Smilianets. “The airlines have done a fantastic job in adapting to new processes, embracing digitisation to adapt to the changing business landscape. By adopting digitisation, the industry is building business resilience and future proofing against the next challenge.” Cargo iQ launches new training programme: Cargo iQ has introduced new advanced training sessions for members with a successful inaugural workshop held in Phoenix. Members attended the on-site training, which is aimed at those working in-depth on Cargo iQ projects and related tasks on a daily basis, to ensure members have a comprehensive understanding of the group’s processes. “We had an enjoyable first session for our new in-person training in Phoenix which focused on shared learning among everyone present,” said Laura Rodriguez, Manager Implementation and Quality Assurance, Cargo iQ. “Our online Introductory training has provided a very good start to learning the basics of Cargo iQ for our members, but the virtual aspect brings some limitations to the level of interaction and knowledge exchange. We see immense value in running the training face to face and don’t plan to hold these sessions in a hybrid or virtual format, at least for now.” The Advanced training is free of charge for members and is composed of six modules: Planning Logic; ENCORE; Milestones & KPIs; Smart Data & Reporting; Exception Handling codes; and Audit & Certification. Etihad Cargo’s revamps booking portal: Etihad Cargo, the cargo and logistics arm of Etihad Aviation Group, launched its revamped online booking portal in October 2021 as part of the carrier’s ongoing digitalisation strategy. In the six months since its launch, the booking portal has attracted a surge in new users and bookings, with 45 percent of all bookings being made via the portal in April 2022. Etihad Cargo is confident portal bookings will reach 50 per cent of all the carrier’s bookings in the coming months. India ranks first with 95.8 percent adoption, with Hong Kong and China recording 95.4 percent and 89.6 percent, respectively. There has also been an increase in new countries, including Vietnam, using the booking portal, demonstrating the portal’s popularity across geographies. The online booking portal offers Etihad Cargo’s customers a more streamlined booking process that requires minimal data entry. This has enabled users to create and confirm bookings within 45 seconds. Development was based on a close collaboration with partners and customers to ensure it meets their evolving requirements. It offers in-demand features, such as booking templates and auto-suggestions for similar bookings. Martin Drew, Senior Vice President – Global Sales & Cargo, said: “Since the launch of the new online booking portal, Etihad Cargo has added several new features that have made creating and confirming bookings easier and faster than ever before. The enhanced look-to-book feature and the addition of a dynamic newsfeed and personalised dashboards have created a more intuitive process, which has resulted in higher quality booking data and a reduced need for booking modifications. The digitalisation journey has not stopped there. Etihad Cargo has also launched a Mandarin version of its website and, more recently, a Mandarin version of the new online booking portal, effectively removing the language barrier for Etihad Cargo’s customers in China – a key market for the carrier.” For Editorial Inquiries Contact: Editor Matt Driskill at [email protected] For Advertising Inquiries Contact: Head of Sales Kay Rolland at [email protected]