LONDON, England (CNN) - "Where's my ticket?" There are set to be less and less of those panicked moments when you can't find your bundle of tear-away coupons, one for each sector of your trip. The airline ticket has been steadily reduced to a reference number called an e-ticket - short for 'electronic ticket' - which stores passenger and itinerary information in an airline's computer system.
Passengers with e-tickets skip queues at check-in counters and instead use self-service kiosks.
E-ticketing is no novelty. The revolution began more than ten years ago and since then, it has increasingly become the modus operandi for airline bookings. Now the goal is for almost all of the world's airlines to use e-tickets by next year. The International Air Transport Association, which represents over 240 airlines and comprises more than 90% of international scheduled air traffic, says it has just placed its final order for paper tickets.
From June 1, 2008, all IATA-issued tickets will be electronic. After that date, suppliers will decommission ticket printing operations.
"This is a 'last call' for paper tickets," says Giovanni Bisignani, IATA's Director General and CEO. "The paper ticket will become a collector's item."
Non-IATA airlines will continue to use their preferred booking methods but many of those carriers are low-cost airlines, which have been paperless for years. Irish airline Ryanair and British rival EasyJet both cite electronic tickets as a cost-saver, the benefits of which, they say, are passed on to the passenger. IATA says their move will save approximately $9 US per e-ticket compared to a paper ticket.
Amadeus, the technology solutions partner for the travel and tourism industry, leads the pack in e-ticket documentation, with over 200 airlines using its distribution methods. Elaine Seeto, Director of Marketing at Amadeus (UK & Ireland) says e-ticketing has become the norm for many travellers today. "Gone are the days of lost tickets resulting in flustered passengers at the airport," Seeto says. Already eighty percent of tickets issued through the Amadeus system are e-tickets.
Amadeus has also developed an Unused E-Ticket Tracking Report, which helps save passengers money. "Around 2 percent of e-tickets are unused, even though the tickets are refundable," Seeto says. "This (tool) helps travel agents proactively assist customers - particularly regular business travellers - to manage costs."
There are numerous benefits for passengers with e-tickets, which ease online purchase and check-in procedures. At the airport, passengers don't have to queue at check-in counters anymore, as they can check in and print boarding cards online days in advance of departure. Travellers without Internet access can check in at self-service check-in kiosks at the airport.
In addition, an e-ticket is harder to counterfeit and increases security because they cannot be lost or stolen. Travellers can access proof of purchase anytime using the electronic confirmation code rather than relying on paper records.
For airlines and agents, e-tickets speed up ticket distribution with real-time information on tickets, fares, customers and the sales channels. That flexibility, combined with to-the-minute accountability, opens up new possibilities for revenue management and last minute sales.
IATA e-ticketing has increased five-fold from 16 percent in 2004 to over 80 percent today. With IATA's systems issuing over 400 million tickets annually, the volume of paper tickets has dropped radically.
"We are changing an industry with tangible benefits for travellers, agents, airlines and the environment," says IATA's Bisignani. "Eliminating paper will save the equivalent of 50,000 mature trees each year."
That may not be completely true since many passengers print out the confirmation email from their airline. But the elimination of paper tickets reduces costs associated with document distribution, redundant accounting, paper-ticket fraud and handling of lost and stolen tickets. A streamlined ticket distribution system ultimately improves the travel experience for everyone. One benefit still hangs in the balance. It is yet to be seen if IATA's estimated industry savings of $3 billion per year will be passed on to the traveller.
Source: CNN.com/travel