CATHAY Cargo has become the first carrier to adopt the IATA ONE Record data protocol in some of its day-to-day operations with forwarders, reports London's Air Cargo News.

Three freight forwarders on the Chinese Mainland - Sinotrans Air Freight, WECAN International Freight Forwarding International Logistics and ALL-LINK Logistics - have 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.

Then last month, 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.

This achievement is one year ahead of IATA's target date for ONE Record implementation, which is scheduled for January 2026.

IATA's ONE Record is designed to make shipment information relevant to stakeholders visible and accessible before, during and after the transport process.

The 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 (GLS), which also designed other digitalisation projects for the carrier's commercial and operational settings, including Click & Ship, Cathay Cargo's online booking platform.