16th May, 2022
Air cargo shipments involve a certain number of steps and accordingly a number of companies in the chain. The industry has been trying to simplify the processes, and specifically working on plans to move the cargo faster and at the same time reduce related payment costs.
“If we look at the air cargo supply chain as a whole, it is not one shipper and a service provider…(rather) there are 8-12 different players involved,” said Christian Gessner during the Ai’s online Cargo Payments Summit last week.
Payments
Olivier Houri, EVP and Chief Revenue Officer, SmartKargo spoke about various stakeholders involved in the cargo payment chain, and shared that the focus has been on simplification of payment processing. For instance, the industry has seen effort being made to facilitate real-time payments for shipments or letting cargo providers to move cargo faster and cut down on payment costs.
Gessner also added that receiving timely payment for a service also remains an issue. “Cash flow is limited,” he said. This is because payment is due to so many players.
Agility via digital offerings
Gessner mentioned that airlines mostly tend to outsource their ground handling operations. Also, considering the fact that airlines are going to work with more carriers owing to the impact of the pandemic on their operations, the role of various players in the cargo supply chain, too, needs to be re-visited, be it for ground handling agents, forwarders etc.
“The reality is that the data exchange between these players is still limited (to paper or EDI messaging),” he said. As for the increasing use of APIs, the industry acknowledges the potential of having a direct connection between freight forwarders and airlines. Also, the option of keeping a tab on the flight schedules, simplifying the process of instant quotes, booking, tracking etc. via digital offerings is starting to emerge.
There are many complexities that are associated with the air cargo business, and the industry hopes to benefit from the offerings that intend to streamline freight management and improve the overall operational efficiency for the players involved.
By Ritesh Gupta, Ai Events
