The International Air Transport Association (IATA) named on Monday Emirates Airlines as the launch customer for its Dangerous Goods Regulations (DGR) for Electronic Flight Bags (eFB) format, which aims to help flight crews pre-check and identify dangerous good shipments.
The eFB format was designed to enable flight crews to easily access information about dangerous goods when making pre-flight and in-flight safety decisions. Using a keyword search like “lithium batteries,” flight crews can instantly view classification, labeling and handling information.
“For almost 60 years IATA’s DGR has been helping the industry safely transport air cargo,” Nick Careen, the senior vice president of airport, passenger, cargo, and security at IATA, said. “The DGR for eFB places the most comprehensive resource on the carriage of dangerous goods into the cockpit in a format that will assist the flight deck crew in making timely operational safety checks and decisions.”
Each year, the airline industry transports approximately 50 metric tons of cargo valued at $6.4 trillion. These cargo shipments must comply with global standards, and IATA coordinates with governments and the International Civil Aviation Organization to ensure that DGR reflects the most current regulations.
“Safety is a number one priority at Emirates and we are constantly exploring innovative ways to provide our flight deck crew with easy access to crucial information pertaining to flight safety,” Hassan Alhammadi, the senior vice president of flight operations technical at Emirates Airlines, said. “With the IATA DGR for eFB, the flight deck crew have efficient and easy access to the most up to date regulatory information.”