• With air transport, cargo can be transported in different types of

aircraft:
Passenger aircraft
• in the cargo area below the passengers, the so-called "belly"

• example: the Airbus A380 (Emirates on Airliners.net)

 Cargo aircraft, or: Freighters

on the main-deck or in the belly ; by means of nose-loading, where the
whole nose is opened, or side loading, through a large cargo door
example: the Boeing 747-400ERF (Air France)

 Combi Aircrafts
CARGO OPERATION A380 - EMIRATES
Freight Forwarder is a person or corporation who arranges transport
of goods on behalf of either the seller or buyer. In many cases the
freight forwarder will also consolidate several small shipments into
one larger one to take advantage of better freight rates. In most cases
the freight forwarder will assume the legal liabilities of acting as a
carrier
Shipper is the person or company who is usually the supplier or
owner of commodities shipped. Also called Consignor.
Carrier is a person or company that transports goods or people for
any person or company and that is responsible for any possible loss of
the goods during transport.
Consignee is the party shown on the bill of lading or air waybill to
whom the shipment is consigned. Need not always be the buyer, and
in some countries will be the buyer's bank.
Air Waybill (AWB)
The document which covers transport by air. It is issued by the
carrier, whether an airline or a freight forwarder, as a non-negotiable
document serving as a receipt to the consignor for the goods, and
containing the conditions of transport. It also shows the details of the
consignee so that they can be contacted on arrival of the goods.
HAWB
House AWB issued by a freight forwarder acting as a carrier.
MAWB
The term used for the AWB issued on airline's stationery to a freight
forwarder for all of the goods covered by one or more House AWBs
on the one flight going from one loading airport to one destination
airport.
Understanding an Air Waybill (AWB)
• The airway bill will also contain the shipper's name and address,
consignee's name and address, three-letter origin airport code, three
letter destination airport code, declared shipment value for customs,
number of pieces, gross weight, a description of the goods, and any
special instructions (e.g., "perishable").
• An AWB also contains the conditions of the contract that describe the
carrier's terms and conditions, such as its liability limits and claims
procedures, a description of the goods, and applicable charges.
Understanding an Air Waybill (AWB)
• KEY TAKEAWAYS
• An airway bill or AWB is a document that accompanies goods shipped
by an international courier, which allow for tracking.
• It serves as a receipt of goods by an airline, as well as a contract of
carriage between the shipper and the carrier. It’s a legal agreement
that’s enforceable by law.
• AWBs are non-negotiable instruments and must include the shipper's
name and address, consignee's name and address, destination
airport, and value of contents, among other things.
Air Waybill (AWB) vs. Bill of Landing

• AWBs are unlike other bills of lading, in that they are non-negotiable
instruments, meaning that it does not specify on which flight the shipment
will be sent, or when it will reach its destination. Bills of lading are legal
documents between the shipper of goods and the carrier, detailing the
type, quantity, and destination of the goods being carried.
• Bills of lading also act as a receipt of shipment when the goods are
delivered at a predetermined destination. This document accompanies the
goods and is signed by authorized representatives of the shipper, the
carrier, and the recipient. However, unlike a bill of landing, an air waybill
(AWB) is non-negotiable. Being non-negotiable, the AWB is a contract just
for transportation and does not cover the merchandise value.
Air Waybill (AWB) vs. Bill of Landing
Requirements for an Air Waybill
• The International Air Transport Association (IATA) designs and
distributes air waybills. There are two types of AWBs—an airline-
specific one and a neutral one. Each airline AWB must include the
carrier’s name, head office address, logo, and air waybill number.
Neutral air waybills have the same layout and format as airline AWBs;
they just aren’t prepopulated.
• An air waybill has 11 numbers and came with eight copies of varying
colors. With the Multilateral Electronic Air Waybill Resolution 672,
paper air waybills are no longer required. Dubbed the e-AWB, it’s
been in use since 2010 and became the default contract for all air
cargo shipments on enabled trade lines as of 2019.
Air Waybill (AWB) vs. Bill of Landing
What Is Non-Negotiable?
• Non-negotiable refers to the price of a good or security that is firmly
established and cannot be adjusted, or a part of a contract or deal that is
considered a requirement by one or both involved parties. Additionally, the
term can relate to a good or security whose ownership is not easily
transferable from one party to another.
Understanding Non-Negotiable
• An item can be considered non-negotiable if one party involved in
a transaction is not willing to make any changes to a condition that has
been set in place. This can refer to the price for a particular good or
service, an element within a contract, or a financial product that cannot be
exchanged or transferred to a new owner, even through the use
of secondary markets.
Air Waybill (AWB) vs. Bill of Landing
• KEY TAKEAWAYS
• Non-negotiable describes the price of a good or security that cannot
be adjusted, or a part of a contract that is considered a requirement
by one or both involved parties.
• An item can be deemed non-negotiable if one party involved in a
transaction is not willing to make any changes to a condition that has
been set in place.
• Additionally, the term can relate to a good or security whose
ownership is not easily transferable from one party to another, such
as government savings bonds.
Air waybills have eleven digit numbers which can be used to make bookings, check the status of
delivery, and current position of the shipment.
 Air waybills are issued in eight sets of different colors. The first three copies are classified as
originals. The first original, green in color, is the issuing carrier's copy. The second, colored pink,
is the consignee's copy. The third, colored blue, is the shipper's copy. A fourth brown copy acts
as the Delivery Receipt, or proof of delivery. The other three copies are white.
• The AWB number has 11 digits and 3 parts.
• The first 3 digits are the Airline Prefix
• The next 7 digits is the Serial Number of the AWB
• The last digit is the Check digit
MAWB is Master airway bill issued by main carrier of goods on
receipt of goods from a freight forwarder to deliver at destination as
per agreed terms. HAWB means House airway bill issued by a freight
forwarder on receipt of goods from shipper agreeing to deliver goods
at destination.
Let us go widely in to the above statements with a simple example.
A, a freight forwarder acts as a carrier legally accepts cargo from an
exporter X agreeing to deliver cargo to Y at New York. A issues Airway
bill to X on receipt of goods after necessary export customs
formalities. A after receiving goods from X transfers goods to C who is
a main carrier of goods. While transferring goods to C, A obtains an
airway bill from main carrier C agreeing to deliver cargo at New York.
Here, the airway bill issued by A to X is called house airway bill and
the air way bill issued by C to A is called Master airway bill.
How HAWB and MAWB works. How shipper and consignee are mentioned
in HAWB and MAWB.
Let us take the same example.
When receiving goods from exporter X, A as freight forwarder release
House airway bill to X in his specified format. Here, the shipper is X and
consignee is Y in the said House airway bill.
The HAWB number and other related reference number is given by the
freight forwarder on the House Airway Bill.
All other information in Airway bill are mentioned based on the legal
export shipping documents completed by exporter for customs clearance
procedures.
Once the cargo transferred to C as main carrier of goods, A obtains Master
Airway Bill from C. Here, in Master airway bill, Shipper becomes A and
consignee becomes B who is the overseas counterpart of A who situates at
port of destination at New York.
How goods are transferred to final consignee at destination in HAWB
and MAWB transactions. What is the procedures at destination port
under HAWB and MAWB procedures.
 Once after arrival of goods at destination, B approaches D to take
delivery of cargo. D issues delivery order after collecting necessary
destination delivery charges if any. B in turn, issues delivery order to Y
after collecting necessary destination delivery order charges if any.
 After arrival of goods at import destination customs location, the importer arranges to file bill
of entry and other required documents with customs to complete necessary import customs
formalities. Once after completion of such bill of entry formalities, the customs department of
an importing country permits importer to take delivery of cargo after paying necessary charges
if any to custodian of goods, carriers etc.
 The custodian delivers goods to the consignee/importer after confirming match of marks and
numbers mentioned in documents and on packages. If Any changes in marking HAWB or other
reference details, custodian of cargo do not deliver import packages to consignee without
proper confirmation.
 Marking and labeling plays an important role in import export business. If HAWB differs,
chances are there in delay of receiving goods due to confusion in loading at different points of
transit. The consignee can not take delivery unless the importer gets necessary permission from
customs department and from custodian of cargo. The carrier or his agent who issued House
Airway Bill (HAWB) has to provide a declaration and request letter to customs and custodian of
cargo mentioning the ‘AWB number on the parcel’ and correct ‘AWB number to be amended’.
After verifying physically by the customs official, permit to take delivery of cargo, once after the
approval of custodian of goods.
• The Air Cargo Supply Chain
When a demand on one place is supplied from another place with air transport as
the main transport mode, an air cargo supply chain must be compiled.
Air transport is relatively expensive, but often the fastest mode of transport
available to cover medium to long distances.
Therefore typical air cargo consists of goods with a high value and/or an
operationally or commercially critical delivery time (high financial breakdown
risk):
Airmail, diplomatic mail
• Live animals, hatching eggs, human organs, human remains, medical supplies
• Express parcels
• Perishables (food, flowers, dry-ice shipments)
• Pharmaceuticals
• Valuables (money, gold bars, diamonds)
• Technical supplies (high tech, oil & gas, aerospace, automotive, ship spares)
• Luxury consumer goods (electronics, fashion goods, accessories)
• A typical air cargo supply chain consists of the following steps:

Shipping
Forwarding out
Air Transport
Forwarding in
Consignment
The whole physical air transport process can be pictured by the
following steps:
A variant in the air cargo process can be to get to the destination in two
or more steps instead of one, then the shipment goes into a transit:

Whether a direct or a
transit process should be
used is up to the
forwarder (where
necessary in
communication with the
shipper) and depends on
required price,
throughputtime (also in
relation to flight
schedules of different
airlines) or special cargo
requirements (security,
live animals, etc.)
In case of a transit shipment the process in between the flights will look
like this:
Or in some special cases or high priority cargo services, if the
connection time allows, the transit process can even look like this:
• The handling agent will often be a separate company contracted by
the airline, but cargo handling can also be an in-house function of the
airline, especially at a major hub
• Examples of separate handling agents are: Aviance,
Aviapartner, Menzies Aviation, Servisair, Swissport Cargo Services,
WFS - Worldwide Flight Services, etc.
• Also the airlines often offer their in-house cargo handling as a
commercial service to other airlines.
• The handling agent takes care of the air cargo handling at the airport,
to and from the aircraft.
• Depending on the kind of goods, destination (flight number) and
urgency, delivery at the handling agent has to be done within a
certain norm-time before departure (TBD) of the aircraft, also called a
slot or a slot-time.
Besides the physical handling, other important functions of the handling
agent are:
To control the overall weight & balance of the airline’s aircraft on the cargo
side, make a load sheet and assure flight safety
To make a cargo manifest for all the goods on board, for the airline’s
import and export declaration to customs

This is a high level customs declaration as opposed to detailed customs declaration by

the forwarder or customs agent
To make a notification to the captain of the aircraft (NOTOC) to inform the
crew about potential risks of the cargo on board in case of emergencies
(dangerous goods, live animals, valuables, etc.), as well as for the right
conditioning (temperature) of the cargo holds
To plan & control bookings, slot-times, goods flows in the warehouse, and
ULD and flight bag flows from and to the aircraft in order to prevent delays
and assure correct execution of the airline’s time-table
To plan & control worldwide ULD stock
 Air Cargo
10 INDUSTRY PRIORITY
Enhancing Safety
Safety remains the first priority! Regulations, standards, training,
workshops... are developed and maintained to ensure aircraft,
passengers, crew are safe.
Improving Security
Equally critical is that security measures be efficient and effective
Protecting Cash
Commercial aviation is a highly integrated, global network of thousands
of companies and organizations. That network depends on
reliable, efficient, and secure systems to report, collect, and remit funds
between the different parts of the value chain. IATA Settlement Systems
are the backbone of the global air transport system.
 Air Cargo
10 INDUSTRY PRIORITY
Driving Efficiency with Global Standards
The air cargo industry relies on global standards, developed and
maintained through a robust governance mechanism, for the efficient
handling and transport of cargo, the exchange of data, the settlement
systems, etc.
Facilitating Trade
The air cargo industry needs smart regulations to facilitate trade,
ensure safety and compliance. The effect of increased regulations , if
not managed by the industry, will not only dramatically increase costs,
but will also slow down transit times, damaging the value proposition of
air cargo as a quick way to transport goods.
 Air Cargo
10 INDUSTRY PRIORITY
Improving Quality
 The air cargo industry needs to create and implement quality standards from end –
to - end to improve the reliability and consistency of its services.
Strengthening Partnerships
 Our success can only be achieved through collaborative efforts . Therefore IATA is
committed to developing partnerships with all supply chain industry stakeholders,
like national & international organizations, regulators, non-governmental
organizations, global, regional and local stakeholders’ associations, aviation
manufacturers and solution providers.
Strengthening Air CArgo’s VAlue ProPosition
 Air cargo customers are not satisfied enough. Their needs,
expectations and constraints have changed. Air cargo has to evolve as
well to adapt and improve its value proposition. It is time to
strengthen today and build tomorrow.
 Air Cargo
10 INDUSTRY PRIORITY
Modernizing Air Cargo
 Modernizing air cargo and making digital the new business as usual is
an imperative. Digitalization is a key enabler for the development of
new innovative services and solutions, thus increasing the value of
the air freight to shippers.
Building Sustainability
 Building effective solutions today to create the right tomorrow is the
foundation for the sustainability agenda established on the three
pillars of people, planet, and profit.