IATA countdown -100 days to e-ticketing
JAKARTA - The International Air Transport Association (IATA) on
Friday began an important countdown-100 days to 100% e-ticketing. "In
100 days the paper ticket gets put in a museum. On June 1, 2008 we will
achieve 100% electronic ticketing," said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA's
Director General and CEO.
IATA began the drive to 100% e-ticketing as part of its Simplifying
the Business program in June 2004 with the dual goals of making travel
and shipping more convenient and more cost efficient.
The program began with five projects-Bar Coded Boarding Passes (BCBP),
Common Use Kiosks for Self Service (CUSS), RFID for aviation,
e-ticketing and e-freight with annual industry savings of US$6.5
billion. It has since expanded to include the self-service oriented Fast
Travel project and an industry Baggage Improvement Program.
"e-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. The industry will save over US$3 billion each year by
offering the passenger a better service. There is no better win-win
proposition," said Bisignani.
When the program began in June 2004, only 18% of tickets issued
globally were e-tickets. Today e-ticketing penetration is over 93%. "It
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 three million," said Bisignani.
Challenges remain. e-ticketing penetration in Africa is only 83% and
has reached 84% in Middle East North Africa (MENA). The real concern is
Russia and CIS, which is at 54% due to a late start while the government
changed legislation to allow for e-tickets.
"Combined, these regions represent 8% of the total volume. IATA's 150
experts are working with the airlines in these regions to close the gap
quickly. If we can bring the convenience of e-ticketing even to small
remote island airports with no electricity, I am confident that with
some hard work in the final stretch we will be successful," said
Bisignani.
Consumers can anticipate more convenient travel in an electronic
world. 100% ET eliminates lost tickets, makes itinerary changes easy and
enables a wide array of self-service options.
"We are entering a new age for air travel. The consumer has spoken.
They love the convenience of e-ticketing and now want to combine it with
self-service options to have more control over their journey," said
Bisignani. "We are already seeing the ET effect.
Online and kiosk check-in are at all-time highs. Even newly
introduced mobile phone check-in is rapidly gaining popularity. IATA is
pushing Simplifying the Business to the next level with its FastTravel
project. FastTravel will bring a wide array of self-service options, in
a streamlined process, from reservation to arrival."
Bisignani made these comments in Jakarta, Indonesia where he is
meeting local and national aviation officials on a range of issues. With
e-ticketing at 95.5%, Indonesia is ahead of the global average and well
positioned to meet the 100% deadline by June 1. |