Cathay Cargo has become the first airline to integrate the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) ONE Record data protocol into its daily operations, well ahead of the industry-wide target set for January 2026.
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The cargo airline began using ONE Record in December 2024, partnering with three Chinese mainland freight forwarders – Sinotrans Air Freight, WECAN International Freight Forwarding, and ALL-LINK Logistics – to exchange electronic air waybill (eAWB) and shipment status data via an advanced API.
In January 2025, Sinotrans Hong Kong Air Transportation Development became the first Hong Kong-based forwarder to adopt the system, allowing for real-time shipment tracking.ONE Record is designed to enhance end-to-end transparency in air cargo, providing a standardised digital interface for seamless data exchange across shippers, airlines, warehouses, and customs authorities.
The initiative replaces traditional Cargo Interchange Message Procedure (CIMP) systems, enabling richer data insights such as temperature and geolocation tracking through Cathay Cargo’s Ultra Track solution and Envirotainer’s Releye packaging.
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.
This connection enables all stakeholders in the shipment process to extract richer data from ONE Record beyond the standard departure and arrival data derived from CIMP (Cargo Interchange Message Procedure), the standard communication link between airline and forwarder.
With ONE Record, multi-dimensional data from Cathay Cargo’s next-generation Ultra Track solution, like temperature and geolocation, can be accessed, and the same applies to data from cooltainers with data transmitters, particularly Envirotainer’s Releye packaging.
Cathay director cargo Tom Owen said: “These successful real-world use cases demonstrate the continuing commitment of Cathay Cargo to taking a leadership role in the digitalisation of the air-cargo shipment process. We are well positioned to meet IATA’s ONE Record implementation target of January 2026.
“The technical ease of aligning our key customers’ systems using ONE Record protocols with APIs highlights that there is nothing to fear in making the change and lots to be gained from the operational efficiencies, enhanced security and greater transparency of the overall shipment process.”
Sinotrans director of digitalisation Wen Xuan Zang commented: “We are thrilled to be the first cargo forwarder to partner with Cathay in the roll-out of ONE Record for data communication. This innovative approach will revolutionise our operations, enhancing efficiency and transparency in cargo shipment processes.”
IATA head of digital cargo Henk Mulder further added: “All this data is only meaningful when considered together, in the context of one shipment. IATA’s ONE Record data-sharing standard offers an intelligent data infrastructure where data is linked in a vast and decentralised network where stakeholders can access relevant data securely, receiving relevant updates to drive their transport and logistics processes.”
