Abacus on target to meet IATA deadline for E-Ticketing

Abacus International issued 7.5 million electronic air tickets in the first half of 2007, 37% more than the last six months of 2006.

President and CEO of Abacus International Mr Don Birch said that as of June 2007, the proportion of airline tickets issued as electronic tickets by the company now stands at 67%, generated by 63 airlines in the region, up from 48 at the end of last year.

"As of today 97% of Abacus tickets are e-ticket (ET) enabled, placing Abacus and our airline partners on target ahead of the International Air Transport Association (IATA)'s goal of 96.5% ET-readiness by the end of May 2008," Mr Birch said.

Nevertheless, Mr Birch welcomed the recent decision by (IATA) to extend the deadline for electronic ticketing to 31 May 2008, and to target 96.5% adoption as opposed to the original 100%.

"The revised deadline and slightly reduced target for the overall proportion of e-ticketing is more realistic looking across all the carriers in the industry and will allow a more orderly transition and more time for system enhancements and converting interline ET agreements."

E-ticketing is a real-time paperless method for airlines and travel agents to issue tickets. Individual ticket information is stored within the airline's reservation system and can be retrieved and processed electronically, reducing the amount of paper ticket inventory and hassle in re-issuance of misplaced printed tickets.

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