Abacus International will be the first GDS to launch electronic ticketing with Malaysia Airlines, opening the possibilities of e-ticketing with Malaysia Airlines to all Abacus subscribers in Asia.

This enables Abacus’ travel agents in Malaysia and Singapore to be able to issue eTickets on Malaysia Airlines for all domestic flights and travel between Malaysia and Singapore on or after 15 July 2007.

Abacus International Vice President of Airline Marketing and North Asia, Mr Patrick Lai said, “Abacus is delighted to be the first GDS to enable ET on Malaysian Airlines and to support its progress towards achieving International Air Transport Association (IATA)’s target of 100% eTicketing for the industry by end-2007. Effective immediately, travel agents in Malaysia and Singapore can now leverage our distribution network to enjoy the flexibility and convenience of paperless ticketing.”

As at April 2007, the level of airline tickets issued as electronic tickets by Abacus had reached around 63% and this is expected to increase in the coming months as more airlines push to meet IATA’s deadline as part of its “Simplifying the Business” initiatives to increase efficiency and generate industry savings of US$6.5 billion every year. With Malaysia Airlines on board, more than 90% of all Abacus tickets are now ET-ready.

Malaysia Airlines’ Senior General Manager Transition Management, Dr. Amin Khan said, “The implementation of eTicketing with our GDS partners is a crucial component towards increasing our eTicketing penetration. We are pleased to engage Abacus as our first GDS partner. This cutover represents another milestone under our Passenger Services System initiative to simplify our customers’ travelling experience.”