Disruptors combine to switch on key e-airfreight processes
AIR CARGO digital disruptors IBS Software and CargoAi have joined forces to augment the revenue of airlines and forwarders by creating a simple means to view accessibility to all carriers’ flight schedules and their cargo capacity — and then to easily and swiftly make online bookings.
The IBS iCargo single integrated platform manages all aspects of an airline’s cargo business, in a sweeping range of service modules that includes sales, airline operations, Customs clearances, mail, unit load device (ULD) usage, cashiering, claims, cargo and mail revenue accounting, as well as online portal services, data warehousing and business intelligence.
Singapore Airlines, American Airlines Cargo, Etihad Cargo, Lufthansa Cargo and Taiwan’s newly-launched passenger carrier STARLUX Airlines are among more than 30 major carriers utilising the IBS system.
Meanwhile, CargoAi’s extensive cargo flights schedule listing, which encompasses 546 airlines and 2,394 airports around the world, is updated daily, so that any forwarder anywhere in the world is able to see and contact all carriers on any specified route.
Since July, IBS Software has been working with CargoAi to construct an application programming interface (API) which integrates access between their platforms. “With this API-based integration between platforms, iCargo airlines have only to turn on the switch to reach their systems for e-bookings from all over the world,” outlines a joint statement from the disruptors.
“The process couldn’t be easier for airlines — only a few days of tests are required between the platforms to get on board with CargoAi — and no expensive bespoke IT development or complex system integration is required to deliver this capability,” it adds.
Both companies believe their co-operation provides “a real helping hand” both for business and for digitalisation within the air cargo industry. Ashok Rajan (above, left), senior vice-president and head of cargo and logistics at IBS Software, explains: “Through this partnership, CargoAi and IBS Software have invested in creating platform-level integration to give customers more choices on channels to digitally connect with their clients, faster time-to-market for such capabilities, and to do so with very little effort.
“We believe that innovation can be fast-tracked by partnering with companies like CargoAi [which are] bringing in new and improved ways of doing business such as in sales and distribution, which remains very antiquated and legacy-based in the air cargo industry,” he notes.
Matthieu Petot (above, left), chief executive of CargoAi, points out: “The integration currently covers real-time e-booking and e-quoting, flight availability searches and shipment tracking.
“Lots of other possibilities exist, but this partnership is already showing just how essential are the synergies to make digitalisation accessible to all stakeholders in our industry, a goal that we share with IBS,” Petot insists.
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This story first appeared in aircargoeye.com on 30 November 2020
