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www.ArabNews.com One of the Arab Air Carriers Organization’s (AACO) most ambitious plans is the transition of all of its airline members from issuing paper tickets to e-tickets by 2007, which is the deadline set by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Meeting this deadline will be quite a challenge for the AACO as most of its members have yet to work on e-ticketing plans.
The Arab airlines, working within the framework of the AACO, have finalized their negotiations with various vendors for the implementation of electronic tickets on their own networks.
The process of selecting e-ticket vendors for the 23-airline association started immediately after the IATA decision to call for the withdrawal of paper tickets by the end of 2007.
Abdul Wahab Teffaha, secretary-general of the AACO and chairman of the working team that was assigned to negotiate the e-ticket implementation by the AACO’s general assembly, said that the process of finalizing the e-ticket issue has involved eight months of negotiations with industry players.
He added that the results of these negotiations were very fruitful in terms of understanding the process and selecting the best vendors for member airlines from technological and economical standpoints.
Vendors, such as Amadeus, Lufthansa Systems, Mercator, Sabre, SITA Inc. and Worldspan, will provide a number of AACO airlines with e-ticket solutions with their selected airlines partners.
Teffaha concluded that by going through this quick and thorough process, AACO members would be ready for using e-tickets by the end of 2006, one year ahead of the IATA deadline.
He also said that the AACO and the IATA have worked jointly on bringing together airlines, airport authorities and government agencies to launch an awareness campaign on how the implementation of e-tickets will affect the process of various stakeholders in the region’s air transport.
The IATA is targeting a gradual 100-percent implementation of e-ticketing worldwide by 2007 after 70 percent implementation by the end of 2006 and 40 percent by the end of 2005. The IATA reported that the transition to e-ticketing would save the airline industry at least $3 billion annually.
According to the IATA, the cost of processing an e-ticket is one dollar compared to ten dollars per paper ticket.
The organization announced that 80 percent of its member airlines are ready to implement e-ticketing.
The benefits of e-ticketing is not limited to airlines as customers will benefit as well from the new system.
According to the IATA, there will be no more “lost tickets”, and it will be easier for last-minute travelers to handle itinerary changes.
Travel agents will benefit from the new system as e-ticketing would eliminate costs of printing tickets. | 
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