Air New Zealand Cargo Terminals to Introduce a Document Handling Fee

Air New Zealand Cargo has announced that a new document handling fee of $20 plus GST will be applied to all international air waybills processed through the company's terminals in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch - effective from 28 January 2002 next year.

In making the announcement, Air New Zealand Vice President Cargo, Howard Jellie explained that a commercial decision had been made to introduce the fee largely as a cost recovery measure.

"Air New Zealand Cargo has made a significant investment in several areas of the business to ensure we deliver an improved service to all our customers, and further work is underway to upgrade our cargo and document tracking systems," he said.

Investments made in the last few years have included a significant increase in warehouse storage capacity, new call centre and inventory software, computerised handling systems and additional equipment.

"We will introduce a standard fee for both imports and exports, regardless of size or value, as the processing of each air waybill is identical - this is considered the most equitable system and is a fee consistent with industry trends," said Mr Jellie.

Internationally, a large number of Cargo Terminal Operators apply such fees as standard industry practice.

The new fee will apply to all cargo accepted and delivered from 28 January 2002, involving all freight-forwarders, direct shippers and other customers that directly interact with Air New Zealand Cargo terminals, and will replace the current $25 air waybill fee on some export shipments.