IATA bids farewell to paper tickets

http://uk.biz.yahoo.com/27082007/325...r-tickets.html

GENEVA (Reuters) - The global airlines body IATA said on Monday it
had placed its last order for paper tickets, clearing the way for air
travel to be based entirely on electronic ticketing from June 1 next
year.

"In just 278 more days, the paper ticket will become a collector's
item," said Giovanni Bisignani, director general of the International
Air Transport Association.

The changeover from paper would not only cut airlines' costs by $9 for
every traveller but would also mean the industry -- criticised by
environmentalists for its part in global warming -- would save 50,000
mature trees a year, he added.

Bisignani did not say whether the $9 in cost savings would or should
be passed on to passengers.

Based in Geneva, IATA represents more than 240 airlines which operate
94 percent of scheduled international flights.

Non-IATA airlines, mainly low-cost carriers like the Irish Ryanair and
the British Easyjet, already have a paper-free ticket system where
travellers are registered in computers and present only an identity
document at check-in.

IATA launched its drive for so-called "e-ticketing" just over three
years ago and now 84 percent of travellers on IATA carriers fly
without paper tickets.

The airlines body says China, one of the fastest-growing markets for
air travel and host to next year's Olympic Games, is heading to be the
first country in the world to operate an entirely paper-free ticketing
system by the end of this year.