Turkish forwarder fully implements e-AWB

   Turkish freight forwarder Omsan Logistics has converted all of its shipments to electronic air waybills and has been shipping cargo with e-AWBs via Turkish Airlines, saving between 8 and 10 euro ($10.85-$13.52) in the process, the forwarder said.
   “Paperless AWBs are saving us time, increasing our efficiencies and reducing waste,”  Yeliz Ortac, the company’s airfreight manager, said in a statement. “We believe that this is certainly a competitive advantage. This is good for us, our partner agents and our customers.”   
   The company is using Worldwide Information Network’s (WIN) connectivity platform to send the data. Omsan officials said they have started with shipments within Europe but will soon look to use e-AWBs on shipments to other destinations.
   “Early in the new year, we began using WIN to send electronic AWB data to several of our carriers, but also sending the printed AWB in parallel,” Ortac said. “We then used the convenient and simple ‘Click to Agree’ function on the WIN website to automatically join the IATA Multilateral e-AWB Agreement. It only took a short time for Turkish Airlines to monitor the data quality and then send us the e-AWB activation notice.”
   The move puts Omsan in line with the first step on the e-freight ladder, as laid out by the International Air Transport Association.
   “I am delighted to see an industry-solution like WIN providing a simple and cost effective pathway to participate in e-AWBs,” IATA’s cargo head, Des Vertannes, said in a statement. “The experience of Omsan demonstrates that for SME forwarders the efficiencies and process benefits of joining the Multilateral e-AWB Agreement and adopting the e-AWB are real and tangible.”