Global Logistics System Hong Kong (GLSHK) is an International Air Transport Association (IATA) strategic partner and has taken an advisory role in setting up the foundation and standards of the IATA ONE Record protocol for its customers.
Recently, it enabled one of these, Cathay Cargo, to become the first carrier to start using ONE Record protocols in day-to-day usage with select forwarders on the Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong, enabling them to exchange electronic air waybill (eAWB) and shipment status information via an application programming interface (API) designed to ONE Record data protocols. This milestone was achieved one year ahead of the schedule for IATA’s target date for implementation, and was enabled by the digital interface coordinated, designed and hosted by GLSHK.
Simon Ng, Chief Executive of GLSHK, said: “We are committed to being forward-thinking, and dedicated to empowering our customers to move faster and further together with the industry. In this instance, we oversaw the technical design and coordination between Cathay Cargo and SinotransHong Kong Air Transportation Development. Our part in this milestone was to facilitate the data exchange in the ONE Record data format between Cathay Cargo and Sinotrans Hong Kong Air Transportation Development.”
GLSHK’s involvement with ONE Record goes back to its inception, and the partnership work with Cathay Cargo dates back to 2019, when it launched an API service in the ONE Record format for freight forwarders to support track and trace and AWB data exchange between forwarders and airlines. In 2023, again in close collaboration with Cathay Cargo, GLSHK managed the technical design and coordination between stakeholders in multiple ONE Record schemes, culminating in the day-to-day ONE Record implementation with Sinotrans this year both on the Chinese Mainland and in Hong Kong.
“Our next milestone is integrating the ONE Record standard into our products, starting with EzyCargo,” said Ng. “This will reduce time, effort and costs for airlines and forwarders while enabling seamless data sharing across the logistics chain.”
Even before the cutover next year, GLS technology is already compliant with IATA’s ONE Record standards and is ready to offer its services to forwarders, airlines, ground-handling agents and other stakeholders, introducing greater efficiency and visibility to the shipment process that will benefit them.
Cathay Director Cargo Tom Owen said: “GLSHK is our strategic airfreight digital enabler. Its expertise has helped our forwarder customers align with ONE Record protocols using APIs, and these projects have demonstrated benefits including efficiency and greater transparency. GLSHK has played an integral role in positioning Cathay Cargo as a leader in the air cargo digitalisation journey.”
Sinotrans Director of Digitalisation Wen Xuan Zang said: “We were thrilled to be the first cargo forwarder to partner with Cathay Cargo, with the able assistance of GLSHK, in the roll-out of ONE Record for data communication. This innovative approach will revolutionise our operations, and enhance efficiency and transparency in cargo shipment processes. We look forward to setting new industry standards together with Cathay Cargo and GLSHK.”
GLSHK is the first technology service provider to run the complete ONE Record testing suite as provided by IATA to ensure that its API is compliant. Customers can rest assured that this expertise and experience will be pivotal to helping them implement their own instances of ONE Record APIs, as well as be indispensable in providing guidance throughout the entire process from start to finish.
Head of Digital Cargo at IATA Henk Mulder added: “IATA’s ONE Record data-sharing standard offers an intelligent data infrastructure where data is linked in a vast and decentralised network from which stakeholders can access relevant data securely, while 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.”
