End of air tickets
| Published: 3rd September 2007 23:10 |
The old-fashioned paper airline ticket will be consigned to history from the middle of next year.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA), which represents more than 240 airlines providing 94 per cent of international scheduled air traffic, has announced that from June 1 next year all the tickets it issues will be electronic.
The growth of so-called "e-tickets" has been rapid. In June 2004 they accounted for 16 per cent of tickets issued; today the percentage is 84.
A spokesman for IATA said it had placed its last order for paper tickets - some 16.5 million to supply 60,000 accredited IATA agents, in 162 countries around the world - to be issued up to the end of next May.
Giovanni Bisignani, the director-general of IATA, said: "There are tangible benefits for travellers, agents, airlines and the environment.
"Consumers enjoy the convenience and flexibility of paperless travel. Agents had to be located in cities so that people could pick up their tickets, but now they can broaden the scope of their businesses and serve their customers remotely.
"There is a cost saving of £4.50 for every e-ticket. And eliminating paper will save the equivalent of 50,000 mature trees every year." Holidaymakers who receive their tickets through tour companies may continue to receive a paper document.
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