An air waybill is the transport document for carriage of goods by air, standardised in form and handling through IATA’s cargo resolutions. The single most consequential thing about it is that it is not a document of title and is not negotiable. Unlike a marine bill of lading, holding an air waybill does not give the holder a right to the goods: the carrier releases them to the consignee named on the document, and control does not pass by transferring paper. A seller who relies on retaining documents as security for payment loses that leverage the moment the goods move by air, and needs a different mechanism. The carrier’s liability regime comes from treaty law on carriage by air rather than from IATA.
Why nothing is quoted here. This lexicon quotes only text it has actually read, from the body that issued it. The instrument described above has a real owner, named in the paragraph, but that owner does not publish the operative wording openly, and reproductions circulating on brokers’, carriers’ and consultants’ websites are not the issuing body’s publication and are not treated as the source. So this entry describes the instrument’s role and structure and stops there. For the wording that will actually govern your transaction, go to the issuing body — and read the version your contract incorporates, since these texts are revised.