Airlines and travellers give tick to e-tickets

Paper tickets are now obsolete as the International Air Transport Association (IATA) converts the industry to 100 per cent electronic ticketing.

"Today we say goodbye to an industry icon," said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA's director general and CEO. "The paper ticket has served us well, but its time is over."

Paper tickets, which date back to the 1920s evolved considerably throughout the decades, but each new change saw the paper document move further towards an electronic medium.

The first e-ticket was issued in 1994. By 1997, IATA had adopted global standards for e-ticketing and over the next four years, IATA developed a global team of 150 people to work with airlines and system providers to facilitate the implementation.

"In four years we achieved what many thought was impossible," Bisignani said. "We made 100 percent ET a reality everywhere."

Like many who embrace electronic documents, Bisignani listed cost as a contributing factory. "The benefits to the business are real," he said. He said that a paper ticket costs an average of US$10 to process as opposed to US$1 for an electronic ticket.

Bisignani described the future of e-tickets as a "more convenient and more efficient era for air travel."

To complete the conversion, IATA has contacted 60,000 travel agents in 200 countries to collect the remaining unused paper tickets in the system which will be reclaimed, destroyed and recycled.

Those feeling nostalgic could always offer their tickets as souvenirs. "If you have a paper ticket, it's time to donate it to a museum," Bisignani said.