Qatar Airways cargo rolls out automated mail management system

Qatar Airways Cargo has rolled out an automated mail management system at more than 50 stations across its global network, making it the first in the industry to introduce this major enhancement to its business. 

The cargo carrier has also signed an agreement with leading logistics solutions-provider Descartes, and integrated its Descartes vMail™ solution with its in-house cargo management information system, Cargo Reservations, Operations, Accounting and Management Information Systems (CROAMIS) for electronic data interchange messaging.

Qatar Airways Chief Officer Cargo, Mr. Guillaume Halleux, said: “The roll out of the automated mail management system across several destinations in our network will immensely benefit our customers and the flourishing e-commerce business. Our dedicated teams have been working hard for months to ensure the seamless integration and interface between the two data-heavy systems, Descartes vMail™ and our in-house CROAMIS system.

 This is certainly a game-changer in the industry as we move forward with our automation and digitalisation initiatives that not only enhance the customer experience, but also demonstrate our contribution to the environment by implementing 100 per cent paperless operations.”

Vice President of Network Integration Strategy at Descartes, Mr. Jos Nuijten, said: “We are excited that Descartes vMail™ is helping Qatar Airways Cargo to fully automate mail management. As international e-commerce growth continues to increase demand for air mail transportation, our technology improves operational productivity and provides greater visibility essential to transforming the customer experience.”

The Descartes vMail™ team provides support to each of the cargo carrier’s stations on demand 24 hours a day. 

This seamless integration enables the complete automation of the airmail logistics chain from origin, through to the hub and onto the final destination, making manual entries a thing of the past.

 With more than 100 tonnes of international airmail transiting daily through the carrier’s dedicated Airmail Unit at Hamad International Airport in Doha, this major enhancement to its QR Mail product has greatly increased efficiency and provides unrivalled quality, end-to-end transparency, accuracy and accelerates the physical flow of airmail, while keeping the entire process paperless. Other benefits include easy billing, robust revenue accounting and real-time track and trace of mail consignments. In the coming months, Qatar Airways Cargo will be rolling out the automated mail management system to more stations in its global network.

QR Mail is a specialist product within airline’s cargo product portfolio, providing premium service offerings for airmail transportation to global postal and e-commerce operators through an extensive network. Qatar Airways Cargo has been equipping its network with electronic data interchange capability since October 2017, starting with the exchanges of CARDIT and RESDIT messages between postal entities and the airline. These system-embedded messages allow both parties to exchange handover and acknowledgement notifications of each mail item handled. In less than a year, Qatar Airways Cargo has managed to provide airmail EDI capability to more than 50 stations throughout its network.

The dedicated Airmail Unit at the carrier’s hub in Doha has a daily mail handling capacity of 500 tonnes with promising prospects of becoming semi-automated in the near future. This semi-automation will enable increased efficiency in the sorting and handling of postal units allowing the airline to achieve accelerated turnaround times.

The cargo carrier’s airmail transport tonnage has increased by 40 per cent in 2017-18 compared to 2016-17, with more than 100 tonnes of international airmail now transiting daily through its Doha hub. The cargo carrier received two Boeing 777 freighters last month, and thanks to these product enhancements, fleet expansion, a global network and cargo revenue and tonnages rising each year, Qatar Airways Cargo is now the world’s second largest cargo carrier.