No more paper air tickets from June 1

In 100 days from Friday, paper air tickets would be history as airlines across the world move to 100 per cent e-ticketing from June 1, 2008, a target many in the travel world initially thought would be difficult to meet.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) claims that penetration of e-tickets is already 93 per cent.

"In 100 days, the paper ticket will find a place in a museum. On June 1, 2008, we will achieve 100 per cent electronic ticketing," IATA Director General and CEO Giovanni Bisignani said in a statement.

"While a paper ticket costs $10 to process, e-ticketing reduces that cost to $1. The industry will save over $3 billion each year by offering the passenger a better service. This is a win-win proposition."

When the programme began in June 2004, only 18 per cent of the tickets issued globally were paper-less. The figure is claimed to be 93 per cent today. "It is an incredible industry success story," Bisignani added.

"In India, the penetration of e-tickets is 91 per cent, including foreign airlines," said Sunil Chopra, IATA's country manager for India. IATA is targeting 99 per cent e-ticketing for domestic carriers by April.

Top foreign airlines such as British Airways and Lufthansa are close to 95 per cent, though Air India is slightly lower as it has to depend on agents in some countries.

The departure control is handled by ground-handling agents in many countries; their software has to interface with Air India's system.

"Earlier, we had to print tickets and stock them. Now, we don't or have a back-office to manage them. All this will help reduce headcounts and generate savings of $3 billion for the airline industry,'' added Chopra. It has not been easy as the travel trade was initially sceptical of IATA's programme.

"There was resistance to change. People said how can we travel without paper? The consumer also wanted to handle some paper," conceded Chopra. From May, IATA is withdrawing paper from the billing and settlement plan, a system through which IATA manages the transfer of money between travel agents and airlines.

But there are challenges. There is concern about Russia and the CIS countries, where penetration is only 54 per cent as a result of a late change in legislation allowing e-tickets. The penetration in Africa is 83-84 per cent.

"These regions represent 8 per cent of the total volume. Our experts are working with the airlines to close the gap quickly," said Bisignani.