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Air Cargo Track and Trace

“Track and trace” is the cargo industry’s phrase for live AWB status — not a brand, and not only the airline website.

Direct Answer

Air cargo track and trace is the lookup of an air waybill across the systems that handled it. Paste the 11-digit master AWB below to open the airline’s official tracker. Warehouse or door updates may still sit with the handler or forwarder on the same number.

📅 Last Reviewed: October 2026 • ✍️ Editorial Review: AirwayBillTracker Air Operations Team
📜 Standards: IATA cargo status messages

Track and trace by AWB

Enter the master air waybill. We route you to the carrier’s official track-and-trace page from the 3-digit prefix.

Three systems, one AWB

People search “air cargo track and trace” when they want a status, not a definition of an air waybill. The number is shared; the screens are not:

  • Airline cargo system — booking, acceptance, flight departure and arrival, transfer, and often notification (NFD) or delivery (DLV) at the cargo terminal.
  • Ground handler — receipt into a specific warehouse, breakdown, customs location, and pickup slots. See the handler hub for BFS, Swissport and WFS.
  • Freight forwarder — house-level pickup, consolidation, and last mile. That is HAWB tracking.

How to run a track-and-trace lookup

  1. Copy the master AWB from the booking or pre-alert (11 digits, often written 176-12345678).
  2. Paste it above. airwaybilltracker.com reads the prefix and opens the airline page — the same official tool the carrier publishes for track and trace.
  3. Read the latest milestone. Codes such as RCS, DEP, ARR, RCF, NFD and DLV are explained in the status glossary.
  4. If the airline shows arrived but nobody can collect, ask which handler has the freight, then use that handler’s AWB search.

This page is the industry lookup. The step-by-step tutorial for first-time users is how to track air cargo. The homepage tool itself is at airwaybilltracker.com.

If track and trace is blank

Carriers often post the first event only after acceptance at origin. A house number, a missing check digit, or the wrong prefix will also return nothing. Match the prefix on the supported airlines list, or validate the shape with the AWB validator.

Frequently asked questions

What does track and trace mean in air cargo?

It means looking up a shipment by air waybill to see the latest milestone — accepted, departed, arrived, notified, or delivered — in the system that recorded that event.

Is track and trace the same as the airline website?

The airline portal is the source for flight and station events on the master AWB. Handlers and forwarders run their own track-and-trace for warehouse or door events on the same number.

Which number do I enter?

For airline track and trace, use the 11-digit master AWB (prefix plus serial). A house bill belongs on the forwarder’s portal unless they have mapped it for you.

Why does one AWB show different statuses in two portals?

They are watching different legs. The airline may show arrived at destination while the handler still shows “received in warehouse,” and the forwarder may still be arranging delivery.

Need a specific airline?

Open Qatar Airways Cargo, Singapore Airlines Cargo, or the full carrier directory.