On the ops desk the e-AWB removes the printing, handling, and archiving of paper air waybills: the same data moves to the airline as an electronic message, and the electronic record stands as the contract of carriage. Participation runs through IATA's multilateral e-AWB agreement, and an airline activates e-AWB per location, so the working decision is whether the lane and airline are activated before tendering cargo without paper. The confusable is the paper AWB itself: an e-AWB is the same document with the same contractual function, just no original to print and courier. It is also not the ocean eBL; a bill of lading can be a document of title, while an air waybill, paper or electronic, never carries title.
Glossary
e-AWB
The electronic air waybill: the air waybill exchanged as data between forwarder and airline instead of on paper, carrying the same shipment data and the same contract of carriage with no paper original.