Cathay Cargo says it has become the first carrier to adopt the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) ONE Record data protocol in day-to-day interactions with forwarders, one year ahead of the target date of January 2026.
In December 2024, three freight forwarders on the Chinese Mainland – Sinotrans Air Freight, Wecan International Freight Forwarding International Logistics and All-Link Logistics started exchanging electronic air waybill (eAWB) and shipment status information with Cathay Cargo using an application programme interface (API) designed to ONE Record data protocols.
In January, Sinotrans Hong Kong Air Transportation Development became the first Hong Kong forwarder to submit eAWB information and is now able to review shipment information from Cathay Cargo using ONE Record data protocols.
Cathay Cargo director Tom Owen said: “The technical ease of aligning our key customers’ systems using ONE Record protocols with APIs highlights that there is nothing to fear in making the change and lots to be gained from the operational efficiencies, enhanced security and greater transparency of the overall shipment process.”
IATA’s ONE Record initiative aims to create end-to-end transparency for consignments, logging progress as they pass through the links in the air-cargo chain from shipper to agent, airline, warehouse and statutory authorities such as customs, using IATA’s protocols for APIs.