A shipment from healthcare giant Abbott Diagnostics in Wiesbaden was flown on board cargo flight LH8222 to Mexico City on September 13.
As part of IATA’s e-freight initiative, Lufthansa Cargo‘s IT systems and processes can now deal with paperless dangerous goods shipments. Currently, this makes the Frankfurt-based carrier the first airline to support the e-DGD standard.
“We are pleased that the e-DGD has celebrated its global launch with Lufthansa Cargo. This underscores our claim to be the industry pioneer in digitisation. There is still so much more for us to achieve here together with shippers, forwarders and airports,” said Sören Stark, Board Member Operations and COO of Lufthansa Cargo.
The pilot phase of the INFr8 shipping portal has been launched simultaneously. All pilot partners are digitally connected to the platform and can use it to process transport documents – including the DGD, required by law.
“Our shipping portal solves a major challenge in the air cargo supply chain, ensuring greater reliability and transparency for all. We are greatly simplifying processes across company boundaries,” commented Ulrich Wrage, CEO of DAKOSY AGof the launch of the INFr8 pilot.
Logistics service provider Panalpina has also been a key partner to Dakosy and Frankfurt airport plays a major role in dangerous goods handling for both companies. Airport operator Fraport AG has also contributed to the development of the portal.
“Thanks to this worldwide innovation, the INFr8 platform integrates the shipper into the electronic information chain of the air cargo process for the first time,“ said Anke Giesen, Executive Director Operations at Fraport AG. “We expect this to result in shorter check-in times and much faster handling of dangerous goods.“
Thanks to the new electronic system, errors in a shipment‘s documentation can be detected and resolved before the airline even receives the shipment. This will translate into fewer rejected shipments in the future, faster processes and better use of resources.