The agreement was formally signed by Jan Grabmuller, Director Czech Airlines and Bart Jan Haasbeek, Global Key Account Manager, OAG Cargo Solutions at the IATA World Cargo Symposium 2008 Rome, Italy.
The airline has also stated its commitment to support the development of the new OAG Cargo portal in the Czech Republic and to publish rates on OAG's Air Freight Rates (AFRA) application, supported by its GSA partners.
More than 20% of the Czech Republic's freight forwarding companies use the AFRA service already to search for rates, including general, contract, ad hoc and net rates. The application allows cargo agents to view and compare all rates in one place and view historical, current and future rates.
Kristyna Berankova, Account Development Manager EMEA for OAG Cargo Solutions, said: 'With over 50 airlines serving the Czech Republic and a thriving cargo community of over 70 freight forwarders, the OAG Cargo portal can offer wide-ranging benefits for both sets of users. The support of CSA Czech Airlines is especially significant because the airline sees real value in helping the development of OAG Cargo in the Czech Republic. This is another national carrier that recognizes the benefits of working with OAG provides for its own business and its freight forwarding customers.'
This latest development comes as the total number of airfreight rates published by AFRA exceeds four million for the first time. In total, 505 airlines have published tariffs on the site.
AFRA enables freight forwarders to make informed decisions about their cargo shipments. Rates previously distributed by airlines in a wide variety of formats including mail, email with attachments and fax are now accessible through a single web-based application.
The Air Freight Rates application is part of the total cargo portal solution offered by OAG Cargo. Its Inforwarding Announcements service that enables airlines to publish time sensitive operational announcements to freight forwarders and is now live in 24 countries and states in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia with further countries due to be added. In total, there are over 25,000 registered users of the Announcements service. The portal also provides route building, schedules, truck service points and rates and analysis tools as well as regulations governing the carriage by air of dangerous goods shipments.
