Airline Finance News.

Sep 3, 2007

IATA, Based in Geneva, represents more than 240 airlines which operate 94 percent of scheduled international flights. Non-IATA airlines, mainly low-cost carriers such as Ireland's Ryanair and Britain's easyJet, already have a paper-free ticket system where travelers 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 travelers 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. Aug 27, 2007

IATA, the global airline association, 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. The changeover from paper would not only cut airlines' costs by USD$9 for every traveller but would also mean the industry - criticized by environmentalists for its part in global warming - would save 50,000 mature trees a year, he added. Bisignani did not say whether the USD$9 in cost savings would or should be passed on to passengers. Aug 27, 2007

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