Air freight pricing and booking that takes place offline costs the industry billions in changing fees, untapped capacity, and manual labour, sometimes turning the sales process for an hours-long flight into a process that extends days.
New digital connectivity introduced by Air France KLM Martinair Cargo (AFKLMP Cargo) now enables forwarders on the world’s largest air freight platform, WebCargo, to instantly view live rates, assess capacity availability, and secure cargo bookings on specific flights in real-time. This will ensure improved transit times and significant cost savings for airlines, forwarders and shippers, as well as improved capacity utilisation.
Last month, pilots conducted between Panalpina, a top global air freight forwarder, WebCargo and Air France KLM Martinair Cargo, ushered in a new era of digital sales for the leading air carrier. WebCargo’s other air freight customers can now benefit from improved visibility, instant booking, and increased data exchange accuracy. Real-time eBookings will be launched in a number of countries and gradually expanded.
In order to provide the optimal customer experience, Air France KLM Martinair Cargo has prioritized technology initiatives, like APIs. In addition, AFKLMP Cargo also launched dynamic air cargo pricing. This provides advanced revenue management capabilities while offering forwarders and shippers alike access to the most competitive rates.
"Air France KLM Martinair Cargo is committed to be a leading player in transforming our industry online. Our online platform myCargo exemplifies our ambition ‘to be easy to do business with’. Our latest partnership with WebCargo by Freightos provides our customers and partners a convenient and fast digital interface to our products and services, and it stipulates time and again that our strategy ‘be there, where the customer is’, is the right one," said Marcel de Nooijer, executive vice-president of Air France-KLM Cargo and managing director Martinair Holland NV.
"Online quotation and booking are key features of Panalpina’s goal to make air freight more efficient for our customers. WebCargo’s support of instant dynamic pricing and ebooking with one of our preferred partners, Air France-KLM, means faster operations and, more importantly, improved service for our customers," said Markus Muecke, global head of Air Freight Procurement and Product Management at Panalpina.
WebCargo by Freightos already boasts the world’s largest real-time air cargo rate database. It now enables real-time pricing, capacity and ebooking for leading airlines, including Air France KLM Martinair Cargo. If capacity is unavailable, the system also supports manual online ad hoc pricing. The result is more frictionless global air freight.
According to WebCargo CEO Manel Galindo, "Air France-KLM is one of the world’s largest airline groups, which has developed unparalleled digital capabilities stemming from a commitment to offering best-inclass customer service. As a recent benchmarking study we conducted confirms, Air France-KLM Cargo is one of the cargo industry’s leaders bringing freight online. We’re proud to play a role in their success."