Unless a huge shift occurs, it would appear by IATA’s latest numbers on electronic air waybills (e-AWBs) that the goal of 45 percent penetration by year’s end isn’t going to become a reality. The good news is that, for the most part, the numbers have crept up every month by a slight margin. Overall, e-AWB penetration for August was 31.7 percent, an increase of 2.7 percentage points compared to July.
The top country and airport of origin for penetration was Hong Kong and Hong Kong International Airport, with 62 percent. Cathay Pacific was the top carrier by e-AWB volume at 65.9 percent; however Flydubai was tops in penetration at 99.9 percent – almost perfect.
FedEx Corp./Same Day had the highest e-AWB penetration at 82 percent in August, but competitor DGF-DHL Global Forwarding carried the most volume using e-AWBs, at 40.8 percent. Regionally, the Asia-Pacific market was number one in e-AWB volume, with 115,672 tonnes of cargo while the Middle East was number one by region of origin, with penetration at 58.5 percent.
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