Successful transition for China’s flagship airline, completed in just six months, opens benefits of Unisys cargo management solutions to new carriers and forwarders.
BEIJING – Unisys Corporation announced that Air China Cargo, China’s flagship airline, has successfully transitioned to the Unisys Logistics Management System (LMS) delivered by Unisys client TravelSky as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model.
Air China Cargo is also using TravelSky’s new booking and shipment management portal, China Cargo Sky Portal, that is based on the Unisys Cargo Portal Services software. As the two portals share the same core software, Unisys and TravelSky are able to interconnect them to offer clients access to more carriers and forwarders in a one stop air cargo booking site.
With the addition of Air China Cargo, Unisys logistics solutions are used by carriers that move about 30 percent of the world’s air cargo.
TravelSky is the leading provider of information technology solutions for China’s air travel and tourism industry. It operates the Unisys Logistics Management System (LMS), In-transit Service Manager (ISM) and Cargo Portal Services (CPS), which TravelSky offers to China’s airlines via a SaaS model from a Unisys secure private cloud environment hosted in Beijing. Air China is the first TravelSky client airline to sign up for the new SaaS cargo services.
Unisys provided implementation, business process engineering and training services, and customised LMS to meet local rules and requirements for domestic cargo shipments within China. TravelSky managed the localisation and integration of systems such as the Air China Cargo flight operation system and Chinese Customs.
“The software-as-a-service model enabled us to quickly transition to the Unisys cargo system in just six months,” said Raymond So, vice president operation and services, Air China Cargo. “This helped minimise implementation costs and allowed us to start using the new logistics solutions sooner. The intuitive design of the system made it easy to train our more than 1,000 users. Operationally, the cutover took just two weeks as we decommissioned our old system and took new bookings on the new systems. The transition went very smoothly thanks to the support from TravelSky and Unisys.”
Air China Cargo is one of the world’s largest cargo carriers operating air freight services to 36 cities in 27 countries around the world.
Christopher Shawdon, vice president Logistics Solutions for Unisys, said: “Speed of execution is critical for air cargo carriers who operate in highly competitive environments. We welcome Air China Cargo and TravelSky to our cargo community.”
Unisys cloud-based cargo solutions are used by many of the world’s leading cargo carriers who collaborate via the Unisys Cargo User Group (UCUG). This group of clients works closely with Unisys to discuss industry issues and to identify and prioritise enhancements and upgrades to the Unisys services. Unisys and UCUG members have worked with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) for more than 20 years on initiatives such as e-Freight, Cargo 2000 and XML messaging, and with customs and security agencies to help carriers develop best practice and remain compliant with constantly-changing regulations.
Unisys has more than 45 years of experience providing advanced, mission-critical IT solutions to the aviation industry. Fifteen of the top 25 airlines – and more than 200 worldwide – rely on Unisys solutions. Other Asia Pacific aviation clients include Air New Zealand, Air India, Cathay Pacific, All Nippon Airways (ANA), Qantas and Vietnam Airlines, as well as Beijing Capital International Airport, Guangzhou International Baiyun Airport and Chengdu Airport in China, and Delhi International Airport Ltd in India.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
