IATA has placed its final order for paper airline tickets and says it will go fully electronic from 1 June 2008.
Under the present system, travel agents issuing air travel paperwork deal with the remittance involved through what is known as the IATA Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP), which manages the transfer of money derived from cash sales of airline tickets between travel agents and airlines.
The old BSP was slow, cumbersome and prone to mistakes; compared to the new system, also BSP but electronic, it cost US$9 (”4.50) more per transaction.
While for travel agents and airlines the saving is in handling terms, for the passenger it is even more dramatic. No longer a frantic search for the paperwork when leaving for the airport, nor a look through pockets, hand luggage and even suitcases when arriving at check-in. Even a lost pre-printed boarding card can now be very quickly reproduced at an airport ticket authorisation and vending machine.
"This is 'last call' for paper tickets," said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA's director general and CEO. "It's been 38 months since we launched the drive for 100% e-ticketing as part of IATA's Simplifying the Business initiative. E-ticketing went from 16% in June 2004 to 84% today. And in just 278 more days the paper ticket will become a collector's item."