Abacus reports 100% e-ticketing

Abacus International, Asia Pacific’s leading travel facilitator, reported the recent switch on issuing all air tickets electronically. It went without a hitch for Abacus and Abacus-connected travel agents.

The goal for effective 100% e-ticketing and the target date was set by travel industry organisation IATA, with strong support from the airline industry and it is believed that the move could save the travel industry US$3 billion each year.

President and CEO of Abacus, Robert Bailey, said the feedback from partner agencies and Abacus-connected agents showed few had experienced problems with the new ticketing requirements.

“The whole industry had been in preparation for the switchover for many years and Abacus has been working very closely with all employees across the region, as well as 450 airlines and agents in over 15,000 travel agency locations throughout Asia Pacific, to ensure we were all ready to make the move,” he said.

Bailey said that period of change to e-ticketing had seen various parties in the industry working together in an exemplary way; from IATA and the airlines to Abacus, its national marketing companies and travel agency partners.

“The smooth transition is a major achievement for Abacus and its partners as a year ago, the level of tickets issued as electronic tickets had just passed the 60% mark for more than 50 million airline tickets managed by Abacus each year.”

“E-tickets are not only more secure and convenient for customers, but they offer substantial cost benefits for airlines of around US$9 per ticket issued,” said Bailey.

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.