AIR CARGO INDUSTRY FACING CRISIS, SAYS IATA

KUALA LUMPUR, March 3 (Bernama) -- The International Air Transport
Association (IATA) has called on the cargo supply chain to battle the current
air cargo crisis by improving security, delivering a better product and boosting
efficiency.

"The industry is in crisis and nobody knows that better than our cargo
colleagues. Cargo demand has fallen off a cliff. After a shocking 22.6 percent
decrease in December, it dropped a further 23.2 percent in January," said IATA
director-general and chief executive officer Giovanni Bisignani.

Bisignani said that air cargo represented about 10 percent of industry
revenue as 35 percent of the value of goods traded internationally was being
transported by air, and air cargo was a barometer of global economic health.

"The continued declined in cargo markets is a clear sign that we have not
yet seen the bottom of this economic crisis," he said in a statement Tuesday.

In the face of falling yields and demand, Bisignani said that e-freight as a
key driver for efficiency and savings was more important than ever.

Each freight shipment is accompanied by more than 30 documents and e-freight
currently has the capability to convert 12 of these to electronic documentation,
he said.

"By 2010 our target is to have the capability to remove 64 percent of the
paper from 81 percent of international shipments," he added.

Bisignani also called for greater industry participation of the entire
supply chain in the Cargo 2000 quality standards.

"To be effective, we need the whole supply chain to be aligned with a common
vision on how to deliver quality. This is what Cargo 2000 is all about," he
said.

Cargo 2000 was established over a decade ago to simplify processes by
reducing 40 steps in the logistics chain to 19 and to implement effective
quality standards.
-- BERNAMA