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Airlines to Stop Issuing Paper Tickets June
Techtree News Staff, May 29, 2008 1806 hrs ISTSome of the Indian airlines who have introduced 100 percent e-ticketing are: Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines, Air India, and JetLite.
Come June, all major airlines across the globe will stop issuing paper tickets and switch to 100 percent e-ticketing, sticking to the deadline issued by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
IATA had extended the deadline for travel agents and airlines to withdraw paper tickets from their systems and convert to 100 per cent e-ticketing to June 1, 2008. Earlier, they were asked to do the same by the end of 2007.
Apparently, about 5 billion A4 paper sheets are used to print tickets per year, which is double the amount of paper required for back-office paper work. And it costs $5 to $9 to issue a paper ticket, so the adoption of e-ticketing will result in saving $3 billion per year globally.
Some of the Indian airlines who have introduced 100 percent e-ticketing are: Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines, Air India, and JetLite, while the foreign carriers who've adopted the new system are: British Airways, Singapore Airlines, Air France, Lufthansa, Sri Lankan Airlines, Emirates, and GulfAir.
For consumers, it will become convenient to just carry print-outs of the itinerary instead of the bulky paper book each time. And they will have self-service kiosks for check-in, and will be able to enter the airport by just flashing the PNR number on the itinerary print-out or via an SMS.
While airlines have already started adopting 100 percent e-ticketing, travel agents are not ready to adopt the same. The Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) is protesting the deadline, and urging the Ministry of Civil Aviation to intervene to stop implementation of the ban on paper tickets. IAAT is of the view that this would result in increase in cost of fares in case of interline tickets, which is when while travelling between two destinations a person needs to change the carrier on the way.
IATA had extended the deadline for travel agents and airlines to withdraw paper tickets from their systems and convert to 100 per cent e-ticketing to June 1, 2008. Earlier, they were asked to do the same by the end of 2007.
Apparently, about 5 billion A4 paper sheets are used to print tickets per year, which is double the amount of paper required for back-office paper work. And it costs $5 to $9 to issue a paper ticket, so the adoption of e-ticketing will result in saving $3 billion per year globally.
Some of the Indian airlines who have introduced 100 percent e-ticketing are: Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines, Air India, and JetLite, while the foreign carriers who've adopted the new system are: British Airways, Singapore Airlines, Air France, Lufthansa, Sri Lankan Airlines, Emirates, and GulfAir.
For consumers, it will become convenient to just carry print-outs of the itinerary instead of the bulky paper book each time. And they will have self-service kiosks for check-in, and will be able to enter the airport by just flashing the PNR number on the itinerary print-out or via an SMS.
While airlines have already started adopting 100 percent e-ticketing, travel agents are not ready to adopt the same. The Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) is protesting the deadline, and urging the Ministry of Civil Aviation to intervene to stop implementation of the ban on paper tickets. IAAT is of the view that this would result in increase in cost of fares in case of interline tickets, which is when while travelling between two destinations a person needs to change the carrier on the way.
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