DELHI - International Air Transport Association (IATA) electronic ticketing experts wrapped up a two-day workshop with over 70 representatives from 12 South Asian airlines and several system providers today as part of an industry-wide programme to reach 100% electronic ticketing by the end of 2007.
"The workshops have been specifically designed to address some of the key issues and obstacles to ET deployment in the region, and provide practical tools and guidance to help carriers move forward," said Philippe Bruyère, Programme Director, Simplifying the Business – IATA. "This region, and India particularly, is a growing market and consumer demand for e-ticketing is building quickly."
Bruyère said workshops cover passenger and airline benefits as well as providing details on ET's impact on systems and processes, ground handling management and step-by-step implementation within the organisation. They are attended by those responsible for electronic ticketing implementation within the airline including managers from distribution, IT, reservations, operations, airport services and revenue accounting.
The Delhi workshop is the tenth conducted this year by IATA and the fourth in Asia following sessions in Sydney, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur. To date IATA has trained 550 people from 113 airlines. A total of 14 regional workshops are planned for 2005.
Electronic ticketing is the top priority project of Simplifying the Business, a five-pronged effort to strip out US$6.5 billion in annual industry costs. 100% electronic ticketing will deliver the lion's share of savings, US$3 billion. The others – common use self service check-in, bar coded boarding passes, RFID for baggage management and IATA e-freight – account for US$3.5 billion.
The latest statistics show that 31% of tickets sold via IATA's Billing Settlement Plans (BSPs) are electronic. In the Asia Pacific region, the market penetration is at 30%. India lags behind at 5.4%.
"We have two approaches for helping airlines to get electronic ticketing up and running," added Bruyère. "One is via Regional ET Workshops. The other is our IATA ET buddy system which brings in additional support from experienced airlines."
As part of the ET Buddy System IATA has earmarked US$ 2million to fund 15 days of consulting with smaller airlines. Under the scheme, airlines well down the electronic ticketing path offer up their experts at commercial rates. The costs are covered by the IATA fund.
"We're pulling out all the stops to deliver ET," said Bruyère. "India is an important market and while the current ET levels are very low, we're encouraged by the commitment we're seeing from the airlines here."
Contact information:
Lorne Riley
Manager, IATA Corporate Communications
Tel: +41 22 770 2927
rileyl@iata.org
Candice D'Souza
Avian Media Public Relations Delhi
Tel: +91 11 24640731
candice@avian-media.com