Dubai is ushering in a new era for air cargo, as it becomes the first city in the Middle East to launch the IATA e-freight initiative, and only the 14th e-freight location worldwide to deliver paper-free cargo.

The ground breaking IATA e-freight initiative went “live”, and is now operational on the trade lanes between Dubai and Singapore, Hong Kong and London.

Led by Emirates Airline and Dubai Customs, the Dubai IATA e-freight implementation team started work in June and delivered IATA e-freight on schedule, in a co-ordinated exercise which also involved Dnata, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, British Airways, Schenker, DHL Global Forwarding, Kuehne and Nagel, Modern Freight Company, Freightworks, and the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

IATA e-freight is one of five “Simplifying the Business” projects led by IATA to improve service and cut costs. It puts in place business, technical and legal frameworks to enable airlines, freight forwarders, customs administrations, ground handling agents and governments to seamlessly exchange electronic information and e-documents instead of paper. IATA e-freight eliminates the need to send 13 paper documents with air cargo shipments, effectively streamlining processes, improving speed and reliability, and reducing costs.

In addition to Dubai, IATA e-freight is currently operational in Australia, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Luxembourg, Mauritius, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. The industry has set a deadline of the end of 2010 for the implementation of e-freight where feasible.