Hamad International Airport to implement e-invoicing system

HIA has worked in cooperation with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in order to implement an electronic invoicing system that streamlines the air transport industry’s billing and settlement activities. This system is meant to optimise and reduce the cost of back-office processes, unify invoicing standards and reduce paper waste, and foster an efficient environment for airlines and aviation business partners.

SIS is the aviation industry’s electronic invoicing service provided by IATA. Since its inception, more than 1500 airlines and air operators have joined the SIS network. Via the SIS platform, an operator can submit a single electronic billing file that then is converted into an invoice and a settlement file which will help to avoid record duplication and improve efficiency by integrating a unified e-invoicing standard (IS-XML). The platform also enables the participant to choose from options such as automated invoice validation and offers a variety of other beneficial functions.

Since the implementation of the SIS platform, HIA has billed 46 invoices per month for 23 airlines. HIA’s migration to the SIS platform sets to adhere to the latest invoice data standards for the aviation industry and will see a reduction of manual labour and paper-driven activities such as invoicing and dispute handling. It will also eliminate unnecessary paperwork, mail charges and courier fees as well as mitigate the risks related to lost documents and internal paper handling, as well as improve control over cash flows, as data is being directly linked to the payable systems of airlines.

With the SIS platform, HIA’s next step is to integrate full automation of the billing and settlement system through the IATA Clearing House (ICH), which will help in providing settlement services for the airport. The ICH enables the world’s airlines and industry suppliers to settle their passenger, cargo, non-transportation billings by applying the principles of off-set and netting. The ICH also offers protection in the event of a payment default and/or bankruptcy.