Gulf Air has extended its electronic ticketing in the region allowing travel agencies in Bahrain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates using Sabre Global Distribution System the ability to provide paperless tickets, maximising the…
Gulf Air has extended its electronic ticketing in the region allowing travel agencies in Bahrain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates using Sabre Global Distribution System the ability to provide paperless tickets, maximising the ease of use, convenience and lower costs for them and the airline’s passengers.
Gulf Air`s e-ticketing facility, which was launched in November 2005 on its London-Bahrain-Singapore-Sydney routes, has been gaining popularity as more and more passengers have started using the facility because of its inherent benefits.
The move comes in time for the deadline set by IATA’s ‘Simplifying the Business’ strategy, which calls for the withdrawal of all paper tickets from travel agents around the world by the end of 2007. It is part of the association’s continuing attempts to reduce costs for airlines, travel agencies and travellers, offering more flexibility, security and improved reconciliation of all transactions.
“Electronic is the future of ticketing and we are glad to be a part of it,” says Vice President Information Technology Jalal Al Qassab.
“Extending electronic ticketing to our customers is part of Gulf Air’s ‘Smart Airline and Successful Business’ strategy and our continuous efforts to serve our customers better.”
Electronic ticketing allows storing passenger travel data electronically and is designed to greatly reduce the manual effort spent today on issuing, delivering, tracking and reconciling paper tickets for airline travel.
For the passengers, it offers greater flexibility, as it provides them with last-minute change options and faster airport check-in.
The e-ticket cannot be lost as the booking always remains in the reservation system and can be accessed at any time.
Typically a paper ticket today costs up to US$10 to process, whereas the processing cost of an e-ticket is only US$1. Since IATA processes 300 million paper tickets each year, this means that a full implementation of e-ticketing will save the industry up to US$ 3.0 billion per year worldwide.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
