Airlines in India are in a rush to go paperless. The International Air Transport Association (IATA), a worldwide body representing 240 airlines and 94 per cent of global air traffic, has declared that every ticket issued through its Billing and Settlement Plan — which facilitates transactions between airlines and travel agents — will be electronic by May 31, 2008.
Judging by latest trends, airlines in India are quickly on their way to making ticketing fully electronic even before the end of the year.
Electronic ticketing, or ‘e-ticketing,’ gives travel agents as well as online travel portals direct access to an airline’s reservation database. Web ticketing also allows consumers to directly make their reservations through an airline’s website from their own homes, without the hassle of dealing with paper coupons or making a trip to the office of an airline or agent. The technology delivers both economic and logistic incentives for consumers; yet, it also brings with it areas of caution that airlines, passengers, agents and airport authorities need to be aware of.
Over the last three years, the share of electronic tickets globally has increased from 16 per cent in 2004 to as much as 84 per cent today. In India, only 47 per cent of all bookings were done electronically just 12 months ago. Now, according to IATA, the figure has risen to 80 per cent.
“India is well on the way to achieving the 100 per cent target,” says Lorne Riley, an IATA representative based in Geneva. “We have no concerns at all regarding next year’s deadline, if you look at how India is doing compared to other countries in the region” (see graphic).Sharp growth
For state-carrier Indian Airlines, the share of e-ticketing had sharply risen to around 60 per cent of their total reservations since the facility was introduced last year. For private carriers, the trend is all the more evident.
Jet Airways reports more than 80 per cent electronic reservations, while Kingfisher records close to 100 per cent electronic bookings. Indian Airlines’ figures are also slated to increase once a revamp of the current reservation system — the system will be integrated with that of Air India following the merger — is completed.
Air Deccan, the first airline in India to establish a completely web-enabled reservation system, records around 40 per cent direct online reservations through its website alone, besides through the travel agent system. According to Pratyasha Singh, an Air Deccan representative, electronic ticketing has played “a significant role” in widening the airline’s consumer base.
In international sectors out of India, ticketing is largely done electronically, but only through travel agents and not directly through websites. Indian consumers still prefer to go through agents while booking international tickets. For instance, for flights out of India, Singapore Airlines records close to 100 per cent electronic reservations, but only around one per cent is done outside the travel agent system, directly on the web.
The reasons are two-fold: Higher costs involved in international travel make passengers more wary of booking tickets electronically through their credit cards, and credit card limits are another limiting factor. A second reason is the increasingly complicated and long-drawn procedures for acquiring visas.
“At the moment, people have not really switched over to the web for international travel,” confirms Indumathi Venugopal, director, Pegasus Travels. “While lack of availability is a factor, it is largely due to the complications in international travel such as the process of getting visas from consulates. For instance, for Malaysia there is a need to get immigration clearance even during the process of getting a ticket.”
The increasing trend of web ticketing has however been significant enough to force travel agents to diversify their business plans.
“Travel agents are shifting more to value-added services, like visa application, tourism packages for groups and travel insurance,” Ms. Venugopal says. “Agents cannot focus on ticketing alone as they once did.” Security concerns
How will this increasing surge for electronic ticketing ultimately impact air travel for passengers? D. Sudhakara Reddy, president, Air Passengers Association of India, believes that while technology will improve access to travel as well as costs for Indian consumers, there are a number of security issues that are yet to be answered.
“It is true that fares are becoming significantly cheaper, especially when you book through the website of an airline,” Mr. Reddy says. “There are also a number of search engines like Yatra.com, Makemytrip.com and Sprice.com that list all available fares and save you the hassle of making ten different calls to agents or airlines, though they often charge three to seven per cent extra on the fare.”
Mr. Reddy however cautions that the benefits of the technology come with certain caveats. He says that there is a need for tighter security systems in Indian airports in verifying purchases of e-tickets, as they are in the West. “For e-tickets, passengers are supposed to carry their identity card with a photograph,” Mr. Reddy says. “Many people do not, and I have personally observed that airport security is not checking up on this consistently. You are allowing anybody and everybody to go in, so this is a very dangerous thing.”
Judging by latest trends, airlines in India are quickly on their way to making ticketing fully electronic even before the end of the year.
Electronic ticketing, or ‘e-ticketing,’ gives travel agents as well as online travel portals direct access to an airline’s reservation database. Web ticketing also allows consumers to directly make their reservations through an airline’s website from their own homes, without the hassle of dealing with paper coupons or making a trip to the office of an airline or agent. The technology delivers both economic and logistic incentives for consumers; yet, it also brings with it areas of caution that airlines, passengers, agents and airport authorities need to be aware of.
Over the last three years, the share of electronic tickets globally has increased from 16 per cent in 2004 to as much as 84 per cent today. In India, only 47 per cent of all bookings were done electronically just 12 months ago. Now, according to IATA, the figure has risen to 80 per cent.
“India is well on the way to achieving the 100 per cent target,” says Lorne Riley, an IATA representative based in Geneva. “We have no concerns at all regarding next year’s deadline, if you look at how India is doing compared to other countries in the region” (see graphic).Sharp growth
For state-carrier Indian Airlines, the share of e-ticketing had sharply risen to around 60 per cent of their total reservations since the facility was introduced last year. For private carriers, the trend is all the more evident.
Jet Airways reports more than 80 per cent electronic reservations, while Kingfisher records close to 100 per cent electronic bookings. Indian Airlines’ figures are also slated to increase once a revamp of the current reservation system — the system will be integrated with that of Air India following the merger — is completed.
Air Deccan, the first airline in India to establish a completely web-enabled reservation system, records around 40 per cent direct online reservations through its website alone, besides through the travel agent system. According to Pratyasha Singh, an Air Deccan representative, electronic ticketing has played “a significant role” in widening the airline’s consumer base.
In international sectors out of India, ticketing is largely done electronically, but only through travel agents and not directly through websites. Indian consumers still prefer to go through agents while booking international tickets. For instance, for flights out of India, Singapore Airlines records close to 100 per cent electronic reservations, but only around one per cent is done outside the travel agent system, directly on the web.
The reasons are two-fold: Higher costs involved in international travel make passengers more wary of booking tickets electronically through their credit cards, and credit card limits are another limiting factor. A second reason is the increasingly complicated and long-drawn procedures for acquiring visas.
“At the moment, people have not really switched over to the web for international travel,” confirms Indumathi Venugopal, director, Pegasus Travels. “While lack of availability is a factor, it is largely due to the complications in international travel such as the process of getting visas from consulates. For instance, for Malaysia there is a need to get immigration clearance even during the process of getting a ticket.”
The increasing trend of web ticketing has however been significant enough to force travel agents to diversify their business plans.
“Travel agents are shifting more to value-added services, like visa application, tourism packages for groups and travel insurance,” Ms. Venugopal says. “Agents cannot focus on ticketing alone as they once did.” Security concerns
How will this increasing surge for electronic ticketing ultimately impact air travel for passengers? D. Sudhakara Reddy, president, Air Passengers Association of India, believes that while technology will improve access to travel as well as costs for Indian consumers, there are a number of security issues that are yet to be answered.
“It is true that fares are becoming significantly cheaper, especially when you book through the website of an airline,” Mr. Reddy says. “There are also a number of search engines like Yatra.com, Makemytrip.com and Sprice.com that list all available fares and save you the hassle of making ten different calls to agents or airlines, though they often charge three to seven per cent extra on the fare.”
Mr. Reddy however cautions that the benefits of the technology come with certain caveats. He says that there is a need for tighter security systems in Indian airports in verifying purchases of e-tickets, as they are in the West. “For e-tickets, passengers are supposed to carry their identity card with a photograph,” Mr. Reddy says. “Many people do not, and I have personally observed that airport security is not checking up on this consistently. You are allowing anybody and everybody to go in, so this is a very dangerous thing.”
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