Qatar Airways Cargo is to use digital platform WebCargo to provide forwarders with real-time pricing, capacity and e-bookings.

The airline said the platform offered “critical agility” as supply chains contend with the impact and disruption caused by the reaction to Covid-19.

Rollout will begin with France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, South Africa and Spain on 7 February. A discount scheme will be put in place at launch, Qatar Airways Cargo said, resulting in an average saving of US$0.06/kg for the first 20,000 shipments booked via the platform in these countries.

Other promotions will be implemented as the year progresses, the airline noted.

“We are pleased to partner with WebCargo to provide true agility and digital connectivity for our customers,” said Qatar Airways’ chief officer cargo Guillaume Halleux.

“We rely on constant innovation and digitalisation across all our operations in order to provide our best-in-class customer service. During the past months, we have introduced several digitalisation initiatives such as online rate distribution, ad hoc rate automation, track and trace and availability via API.

“The future of air cargo is indeed digital and this change will definitely bring in efficiency across the supply chain.”

WebCargo is a Freightos Group company, whose CEO Zvi Schrieber commented: “Digitalisation is a crucial step in powering agile supply chains in a rapidly changing world. We’re incredibly proud that Qatar Airways Cargo has selected WebCargo to launch third-party e-bookings for forwarders around the world.”