12/02/12, 13:32:27 EST

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E-tickets success for airline

gulf-daily-news.com

MANAMA: Gulf Air has seen a three-fold increase in the number of passengers using e-tickets since April, the airline said in a statement yesterday.

Gulf Air said the inclusion of Amman and Damascus stations meant more than 80 per cent of its network has been covered by e-ticket, adding that it has also successfully implemented Interline e-ticketing agreements with 26 international airlines.

"Gulf Air is way ahead of others in implementing e-ticketing and interline electronic ticketing (IET)," said the airline's executive vice president of marketing and sales Lee Shave.

"Though International Air Transport Association (IATA) has extended its deadline until May next year for 100pc implementation of e-ticketing, Gulf Air is going ahead with its plan to complete it by the end of this year.

"We are also hoping to increase our IET tie-up to about 35 airlines by the same period."

E-ticket - a secure form of ticketing that makes passengers' travel plans less cumbersome and more efficient - is by now the default method of issuing tickets for almost all airlines.

The travel data is stored electronically in the reservation system, which can be accessed at any time and is not prone to being lost or stolen - unlike paper tickets.

"Gulf Air's efforts to make travellers switch to e-ticketing paid off significantly with the airline witnessing three-fold increase in passengers going for e-tickets since April, after the introduction of a levy of $25 for every paper ticket issued," added Gulf Air head of distribution and e-commerce Lars Denlew.

"We are well above the market average in terms of passenger usage of e-ticketing all over the world.

For instance, in the Philippines and Thailand our e-ticket issuance has gone up to over 97pc while the market average is about 86pc and 77pc respectively.

"In Lebanon our e-ticketing usage is 93pc while market average is 66pc, and in the UK we are at 90.5pc against the market average of 89.2pc," he added.

"In a market like Qatar, the market that has the highest penetration of e-tickets in the Gulf, Gulf Air is now above the market average of 83pc with more than 85pc of all Gulf Air tickets being issued as e-tickets," he revealed.

To encourage more people adapt e-ticket culture, Gulf Air announced it has further expanded the surcharge of $25 for passengers asking for a paper-ticket in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Canada, and will be implemented in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait and Nepal from October 1.

 Printable Version  | published Sep 05, 2007