China’s largest freight forwarder, Sinotrans (HKEX: 0598), will offer online quoting and booking for air freight via WebCargo, the logistics purchasing platform from Freightos.
Freightos said that Sinotrans’ air freight subsidiary, Sinoair, will allow customers to pull global contract rates, get dynamic pricing and receive instant booking confirmation from more than 10 airlines integrated with WebCargo.
WebCargo, which Freightos acquired in 2016, has added a number of airlines to its platform. IAG Group, the parent company of British Airways and Iberia Airlines, said it would offer capacity and pricing information for air freight via WebCargo. Lufthansa and Air France KLM Martinair Cargo also signed up to use WebCargo to help distribute rate and booking information to forwarders.
While other customers use WebCargo to connect to forwarders specifically, Freightos said the Sinoair platform will be the “world’s first direct-to-customer air e-booking platform,” allowing access to both agents and shippers.
“As Asia’s top air freight forwarder, we take our responsibility to provide a best-in-class air cargo experience for all our customers seriously,” said Sinoair Deputy General Manager Liu Xin-Yang. “Freightos is our trusted partner, enabling us to offer e-booking to all, something the air cargo industry has never seen before.”
In the first half of the year, Sinoair transported 240,000 tonnes of air cargo.
“E-booking is something passenger travel has experienced since the 1960s. Today Sinoair is introducing it to the air cargo masses looking for a 21st century air freight experience,” said Freightos CEO Zvi Schreiber. “It is an honor to work with such a forward-thinking organization with the courage to shift an enormous part of the air cargo industry online.”