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Emirates rolled out its new global electronic ticketing system last week, ushering
in coupon-free travel and enabling passengers to book and fly on very short
notice.
The system lets customers book e-tickets from Dubai to any of Emirates' 75 other
destinations, as well as from another 26 cities in 19 countries, namely: Australia,
New Zealand, USA, Turkey, UK, Cyprus, Germany (Düsseldorf and Munich), Greece, India (Mumbai), Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, Japan, Indonesia,
Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Kenya. The other destinations on
the airline’s network will become e-ticket enabled in the next 12 months.
Emirates’ e-tickets currently can be obtained through its own centres and will be
made available to the travel trade, via Galileo in Australia and New Zealand by end-May; USA and Europe by 15th
June; Far East by 1st July; and the Indian subcontinent and Kenya by 15th July.
In a year’s time, the airline will make e-ticketing available worldwide through most
other Global Distribution Systems (GDS) as well.
HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, Emirates’ Chairman said: "E-ticketing
is the way of the future. Emirates has always focused on value-added services.
E-tickets are an affirmation of our customer-driven philosophy. They are
technology-based, more reliable and highly secure.
He added: "E-tickets are accepted practice in many markets throughout South
East Asia, Europe and the USA, but we wanted to ensure that the Emirates system
enjoys smooth and trouble-free implementation across our network. We have
invested five years to achieve this objective. Paperless tickets also support our
environmentally responsible policies."
E-tickets, virtual versions of the traditional paper air tickets, benefit air passengers
in important ways. Busy executives and leisure travellers need not worry about
missing a flight because of forgotten or misplaced tickets, as passenger details
are safely stored in the Emirates Computer Reservation System.
E-tickets also can be ordered conveniently at all times, either online
or through an Emirates Call Centre. This means passengers no longer need to visit an Emirates office to
collect their tickets or wait for them to be delivered. Late bookings are easy - they
are a phone call or click away and no need for scurrying to the local ticket office.
Bookings that permit reservation changes can be modified easily at any time, by
phone or in person, without a paper ticket.
E-tickets provide faster and more efficient check-in and other airport processes.
They also improve flexibility and convenience for self-service options, such as
kiosks, where available. The service is fully secured and as e-tickets cannot go
astray, unused coupons are not needed for refunds.
Passengers receive e-ticket receipts by email, detailing the individual’s name,
passport number, travel itinerary and payment details. These can be printed on a
standard A4 sheet of paper and presented at the check-in counter. Regular ticket coupons can
still be issued on request, to customers who book e-tickets through an Emirates
office.
E-ticketing is not entirely new to Emirates. The system had been tried and tested
for some time by the airline's staff. After careful development, it was successfully
implemented for commercial passengers on the Trans-Tasman route last year.
Today, more than 3,500 e-tickets are issued to customers every month on this
route alone.
The project was not without its challenges. Regulatory requirements had to be
met across Emirates’ network, staff and third-party handlers had to be trained,
computer systems had to be set up and updated, and strict compliance with
policies and procedures had to be ensured.
Ghaith Al Ghaith, Emirates' Executive Vice President Commercial Operations
Worldwide said: "For customers, e-tickets represent convenience and hassle-free
travel. For Emirates, they offer cost-savings in time and resources.” |
