(MENAFN – Bangladesh Monitor) Dhaka: French airline group Air France KLM Cargo (AFKL Cargo) pioneers in implementing International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) newly developed Dangerous Goods AutoCheck (DG AutoCheck).
Marcel de Nooijer, Executive Vice President, Air France KLM Cargo, said, ‘Air France KLM Cargo handles more than 1.5 million shipments per year. 173,000 of these shipments require Dangerous Goods handling. DG AutoCheck provides a digital solution to manage the transport of dangerous goods by air more effectively for our customers while at the same time enhancing safety and compliance. We will work closely with our ground handling partners to expand the use of DG AutoCheck beyond our hubs.’
Talking about the digital solution, he mentioned, ‘DG AutoCheck is a digital solution that facilitates the acceptance of Dangerous Goods by checking the compliance of the Shipper’s Declaration for Dangerous Goods (DGD) against all relevant rules and regulations contained in the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations (DGR). Optical character recognition technology transforms the paper DGD into electronic data. DG AutoCheck can also receive electronic Shipper’s Declaration for Dangerous Goods (e-DGD). This data is then processed and verified automatically using the digital version of the DGR.’
DG AutoCheck also facilitates a ground handler’s or airline’s decision to accept or reject a shipment during the physical inspection stage by providing a pictorial representation of the package with the marking and labelling required for air transport.
Due to an increase in the transportation of lithium batteries worldwide and the difference in type, packaging and safety hazard of these batteries, DG AutoCheck has a distinct added value in safety and efficiency.
‘Air cargo demand is forecast to double over the next 20 years. To ensure that the industry is ready to benefit from this growth, modern and harmonised standards that facilitate safe, secure and efficient operations, particularly in relation to the carriage of dangerous goods, need to be implemented,’ said Frederic Leger, Director Airport, Passenger, Cargo, Security Products, IATA.
AFKL Cargo is part of an industry working group made up of more than twenty global organisations supporting the development of DG AutoCheck. This group contains airlines, freight forwarders, ground handlers and express integrators.
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