Cathay Cargo has become the first carrier to adopt the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) ONE Record data protocol in some of its day-to-day operations with forwarders. This achievement is one year ahead of IATA’s target date for ONE Record implementation, which is scheduled for January 2026.

In December 2024, three freight forwarders on the Chinese Mainland – Sinotrans Air Freight, WECAN International Freight Forwarding International Logistics and ALL-LINK Logistics – started exchanging electronic air waybill (eAWB) and shipment status information with Cathay Cargo using an application programme interface (API) designed to ONE Record data protocols.

In January 2025, Sinotrans Hong Kong Air Transportation Development became the first Hong Kong forwarder to submit eAWB information and is now able to review shipment information from Cathay Cargo using ONE Record data protocols.

Cathay Director Cargo Tom Owen said: “These successful real-world use cases demonstrate the continuing commitment of Cathay Cargo to taking a leadership role in the digitalisation of the air-cargo shipment process. We are well positioned to meet IATA’s ONE Record implementation target of January 2026. The technical ease of aligning our key customers’ systems using ONE Record protocols with APIs highlights that there is nothing to fear in making the change and lots to be gained from the operational efficiencies, enhanced security and greater transparency of the overall shipment process.”

IATA’s ONE Record initiative enables end-to-end transparency for consignments, logging progress as they pass through multiple links in the air-cargo chain from shipper to agent, airline, warehouse and statutory authorities such as customs, following IATA’s protocols for APIs – the interfaces that enable users to connect to the system and share data in a secure way.

Sinotrans uploaded its eAWB information through ONE Record via a specialised digital interface coordinated, designed and hosted by Cathay Cargo’s innovation partner, Global Logistics System (HK) Company Limited (GLS), which also designed other industry-leading digitalisation projects for the carrier’s commercial and operational settings, including Click & Ship, Cathay Cargo’s online booking platform.

This connection enables all stakeholders in the shipment process to extract richer data from ONE Record beyond the standard departure and arrival data derived from CIMP (Cargo Interchange Message Procedure), the standard communication link between airline and forwarder. With ONE Record, multi-dimensional data from Cathay Cargo’s next-generation Ultra Track solution, like temperature and geolocation, can be accessed, and the same applies to data from cooltainers with data transmitters, particularly Envirotainer’s Releye packaging.

Sinotrans Director of Digitalisation Wen Xuan Zang said: “We are thrilled to be the first cargo forwarder to partner with Cathay in the roll-out of ONE Record for data communication. This innovative approach will revolutionise our operations, enhancing efficiency and transparency in cargo shipment processes. We look forward to setting new industry standards together with Cathay Cargo and providing our custolsh mers with an even higher level of service.”

The air-cargo industry has many stakeholders, including shippers, forwarders, airlines, ground handlers and customs services, all of which need to see and process cargo and its data before, during and after the transport process. IATA’s ONE Record is designed to make shipment information relevant to stakeholders visible and accessible.

IATA Head of Digital Cargo Henk Mulder said: “All this data is only meaningful when considered together, in the context of one shipment. IATA’s ONE Record data-sharing standard offers an intelligent data infrastructure where data is linked in a vast and decentralised network where stakeholders can access relevant data securely, receiving relevant updates to drive their transport and logistics processes. I am delighted to see this real-world production example of communication between different cargo stakeholders.”

Cathay’s Tom Owen added: “At Cathay Cargo, we know how important it is to work with our customers to increase the transparency and data connectivity of air cargo. We will continue to take the lead in providing the API links necessary to customers, and look forward to helping more of them implement direct connection with us, using the ONE Record protocols.”