Basel goes “e-freight”
Basel Airport is the third location to become “IATA e-freight capable” in Switzerland. After Zurich and Geneva, the e-freight operational process was introduced in Basel, under the lead of Swiss WorldCargo, the cargo division of Swiss International Air Lines Ltd.
Cargo carriers (SWISS, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines), ground handling agent Swissport, customs and airport authorities as well as a large group of local and international freight forwarders – such as Panalpina, DHL, Agility Logistics, Fracht AG, Glob-sped, Gondrand, Lamprecht, Hoco and Wincanton – have all been working closely with Swiss WorldCargo and the IATA e-freight team for the successful and timely launch of the initiative.
The first e-freight compliant transaction was performed in on 14 January by Kühne & Nagel on the trade lane between Basel Airport and Hong Kong, after a successful test shipment was conducted one week before on the same routing.
Markus Loeffler, senior manager quality and safety assurance at Swiss WorldCargo commented: “The implementation of the e-freight process in Basel marks a significant step to improve data quality and efficiency as well to strengthen the leading role of Switzerland as a hub for urgent, sensitive and high value cargo.”
