Shiprocket encyclopedia

AWB – Knowing the Full Form & Understanding the Concept

AWB is the abbreviation of Airway Bill. An airway bill is the bill of lading when a particular consignment is shipped with a courier company, mostly through the means of air transport. The Airway bill is also called as air consignment note. 

AWB is issued by the air carrier or the logistics company that is taking your parcel for delivering it to the customer. It is an important and non-negotiable document and also serves as the evidence of the receipt of goods by the carrier.

A typical AWB has 11 digits is divided into 3 parts.

• The first 3 digits are the Airline Prefix – a three digit identifier approved by the International Air Transport Association (AITA) & International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

• The next 7 digits is the serial number of the Airway Bill.

• The last digit is the Check Digit – a form of redundancy check used for error detection on identification numbers.

The Airway Bill can be used to figure about different aspects about a shipment like the status of delivery, current position of shipment, bookings, etc.

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