Lufthansa Cargo and cargo.one is introducing an auto-assigned airway bill to further facilitate its digital booking process. 

"From now on ... shippers can have the air waybill number required for booking assigned to them digitally and fully automatically," the German cargo carrier said, adding that this eliminates the need for time-consuming manual management of air waybill inventories and numbers.

Lufthansa Cargo noted that it is the exclusive launch partner for this digital and free feature at cargo.one, which is available for all Lufthansa Cargo capacities that can be booked there.

The air cargo airline said it plans to offer automated air waybill number assignment for customer bookings on its own website in the second quarter as well.

"We are very pleased that we will be able to offer our customers a more efficient booking process and an improved customer experience in the future. The fact that we are the first airfreight airline to jointly launch the process of automated air waybill number assignment with cargo.one shows once again that Lufthansa Cargo is playing a pioneering role in the digitalization of the entire industry," said Ashwin Bhat, chief commercial officer at Lufthansa Cargo,  adding that excellent customer orientation and modern digital distribution are our top priorities.

Lufthansa noted that forwarders who use cargo.one to book shipments with Lufthansa Cargo can book immediately without having to enter a valid AWB number first.

Using a "Book now" button, user can select any Lufthansa Cargo offer and is then assigned a valid AWB number with the booking confirmation.

"The advantages of automated AWB assignment are obvious: the booking process runs much faster, is less error-prone, and much more user-friendly. However, customers who still wish to enter an AWB number manually can continue to do so," Lufthansa said.

In addition, Lufthansa Cargo noted that it is working on introducing two more features that customers will be able to use on the Lufthansa Cargo website this summer including giving customers who do not want to or cannot use the automated AWB allocation to be given the option to have an air waybill inventory sent to them digitally, which will then be used for future bookings.

"With digital allocation, air waybill inventory will only take a few seconds to allocate. The third feature will allow customers to view previously digitally allocated and unused air waybills from their inventory," Lufthansa Cargo said.