DHL Global Forwarding, the air and ocean freight forwarder of Deutsche Post DHL, and Emirates SkyCargo, the cargo division of Emirates airline, will partner to drive the e-freight agenda across their networks.

According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) up to US$4.9 billion of annual industry savings could be generated by e-freight processes with environmental benefits eliminating 7,800 tons of paper documents worldwide - the equivalent of 80 Boeing 747 cargo planes per year.

DHL Global Forwarding head of global airfreight Michael Schaecher said its partnering with Emirates to drive e-freight volumes is a key part of its strategy. "Already today DHL Global Forwarding handles more than a third of all international forwarder-issued e-freight shipments."

E-freight reduces cycle times of 24 hours on average, greater reliability and accuracy due to one-time data entry at the point of origin, and much better visibility in the online track on account of electronic documentation.

Emirates senior vice president Ram Menen said e-freight is the future of the industry and can reduce errors and increase accuracy in a DHL statement. "Emirates is a huge advocate of e-freight and is already one of the leaders in the industry in actual numbers of shipment carried on the e-freight lanes. The benefits it has brought our business are enormous, which is why we are encouraging others to embrace it."