Paper tickets to be a legacy of the past
Airlines are at the start of the home stretch of e-ticket compliance, announced the International Air Transport Association.âIn 100 days the paper ticket gets put in a museum. On June 1, 2008 we will achieve 100% electronic ticketing,â? said Giovanni Bisignani, IATAâs Director General and CEO.
In June 2004, IATA launched its Simplifying the Business initiative, with five key projects, of which the e-ticket was one, that was aimed at making the travel industry more efficient.
âE-ticketing is the flagship project of Simplifying the Business. While a paper ticket costs US$10 to process, e-ticketing reduces that cost to US$1,â? said Mr Bisignani.
âThe industry will save over US$3 billion each year by offering the passenger a better service. There is no better win-win proposition.â?
When the project began in 2004, e-tickets were used in roughly 18% of the market globally, now the figure is over 93%.
âIt is an incredible industry success story. When we began over 28 million paper tickets were issued each month. We have reduced that number to less than 3 million,â? he says.
Source: etravelblackboardasia.com