HALF of the world's air cargo capacity is now available for pricing and booking in one digital marketplace, one of the milestones reached after it was announced recently that China Southern Airlines is linking up with WebCargo, a unit of Freightos that has more than 30 airlines offering their services for air freight globally.
China Southern is the first Chinese carrier on WebCargo and helps shippers access more capacity in Asia on a platform that already has some of the top carriers based in Europe, the US and the Persian Gulf region.
'China up to now has been the exception to the whole air-cargo revolution,' Freightos CEO Zvi Schreiber said, according to Bloomberg.
WebCargo works like Travelocity or Expedia, but instead of entering passenger information, you search for the quantity and type of cargo, the departure and arrival airport, and the dates for shipping. Hit enter, and options ranging from the carrier and price appear. It also shows a carbon emission estimate.
Europe is WebCargo's best-covered market with carriers such as Lufthansa and Turkish Cargo. In the US, American Airlines and Delta are signed up, but 'Asia is still very poorly covered,' Mr Schreiber said.
That may be about to change. Chengqing Tao, executive vice president of China Southern Air Logistics, said the digital shift for air freight will continue even if the market hits headwinds in 2023.
'Digitization has become a key business and practice enabler in air cargo industry that will surely continue,' Mr Tao said. 'We are now speeding up our pace to embrace digital transformation.'
SeaNews Turkey
China Southern is the first Chinese carrier on WebCargo and helps shippers access more capacity in Asia on a platform that already has some of the top carriers based in Europe, the US and the Persian Gulf region.
'China up to now has been the exception to the whole air-cargo revolution,' Freightos CEO Zvi Schreiber said, according to Bloomberg.
WebCargo works like Travelocity or Expedia, but instead of entering passenger information, you search for the quantity and type of cargo, the departure and arrival airport, and the dates for shipping. Hit enter, and options ranging from the carrier and price appear. It also shows a carbon emission estimate.
Europe is WebCargo's best-covered market with carriers such as Lufthansa and Turkish Cargo. In the US, American Airlines and Delta are signed up, but 'Asia is still very poorly covered,' Mr Schreiber said.
That may be about to change. Chengqing Tao, executive vice president of China Southern Air Logistics, said the digital shift for air freight will continue even if the market hits headwinds in 2023.
'Digitization has become a key business and practice enabler in air cargo industry that will surely continue,' Mr Tao said. 'We are now speeding up our pace to embrace digital transformation.'
SeaNews Turkey
