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Amadeus to introduce e-tickets
Venkat Pulapaka / Hyderabad
The day is not very far off when the Indian
traveller can crisscross the globe with just an e-ticket. And Madrid-headquartered
Amadeus Global Travel Distribution, a travel industry technology
provider, is making this possible. The Indian arm of Amadeus is
getting ready to introduce e-tickets for air travel from September
this year. The new system would avoid issuance of a physical, paper
ticket, according to Ankur Bhatia, managing director of Amadeus
India. The e-ticketing model allows authorised travel agents to
transmit ticketing information directly to the airline’s database,
enabling the passenger to check-in and board the flight without
the need for presenting a paper ticket at the counter. Passengers
buying an electronic ticket will be given an identification number
by the agent and on disclosing this number at the airport, they
would get a boarding pass at the check-in counter. “This makes
flying easy for all,” said Bhatia.
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| Ankur Bhatia |
According to Bhatia, the benefits of the
e-ticketing model include:
- For passengers: No paper tickets; no
risk of losing a ticket; shorter check-in time.
- For travel agents: Increased productivity
in the form of a smarter ticketing process and no ticket delivery
required; access to critical passenger data gives flexibility
in modifying the ticket at any point of time; automatically reports
the electronic ticket sale; lightens workload.
- For airlines: Cuts ticketing costs by
a minimum of 80 percent (from $7 to $1); faster ticket process,
ensures data security at all times; and quick status check of
passengers in real-time.
All this could be possible provided an
airline becomes an Amadeus access sell carrier to enable the airlines
offices to issue e-tickets. Secondly, the airline should be commercially
ready and the market should be mature enough to enable Amadeus travel
agencies to issue e-tickets in India and other countries.
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