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FLY BY NUMBERS
BY LYNNE ELASSY
Travelers have one less item to remember as they
pack up and head to the airport. Electronic tickets (e-tickets)
promise to put an end to the traditional paper airline ticket, allowing
travelers to book their flights online and simply show up at the
airport with just their passport and a confirmation number. Faster
check-in, less hassle, and no more costly fees to replace lost or
stolen air tickets.
Although e-tickets are just catching on in Egypt, airlines have
been utilizing this form of travel facilitation elsewhere in the
world since the mid-1990s. An e-ticket is a paperless document used
for ticketing passengers. Once a reservation is made, an e-ticket
exists only as a digital record in the airline’s computers.
Customers can print out a copy of their receipt and itinerary from
any computer – which along with proof of identification (and
in some cases a credit card), is all that is needed to retrieve
the ticket when checking in at the airport.
For the customer, e-tickets mean easier travel planning. They also
make it easier for travel agents to make changes to their customers’
itineraries over the phone or via e-mail, without the added hassle
– and cost – of reprinting the ticket.
E-tickets also promise big savings for the airline industry, which
has been struggling to cut costs since the surge in fuel prices
over the past couple of years. Airlines save nearly $10 every time
an e-ticket is issued instead of a paper one – which has material
costs and is more expensive to process. According to the International
Air Transport Association (IATA), airlines process close to 300
million paper tickets each year, meaning that a total transformation
to e-ticketing globally will amount to approximately $3 billion
per year in savings.
In 2006, IATA reported that 74 percent of all tickets issued through
their accredited travel agencies were e-tickets. To encourage passengers
to use e-tickets, some airlines charge extra for the issuance of
traditional paper tickets. Gulf Air, for example, adds a $25 surcharge
when a customer chooses a paper ticket to a destination that has
the option of an e-ticket.
The emergence of e-tickets in Egypt has changed the way airlines
do business, amounting to monetary savings and better customer service.
EgyptAir began issuing e-tickets earlier this year, but some international
carriers have already been using them in Egypt for several years.
KLM first introduced its e-ticket service to Egypt in February 2005.
Now, more than 90 percent of tickets issued by KLM in Egypt are
electronic.
Abdallah Okasha, country manager of KLM Egypt, says the airline
encountered some resistance when introducing the service to the
market simply because it was new, and travelers were unfamiliar
with it. At first, some embassies required paper tickets to issue
visas and banks for currency exchange, but now e-tickets are recognized
and accepted by nearly everyone, he says.
The benefits of e-ticketing have had a ripple effect on the travel
industry, affecting the traveler, travel agents and airlines. Anything
that provides faster, simpler services for travelers is a boost
to Egypt’s tourism industry, which accounts for 25 percent
of the country’s foreign currency income.
Okasha is optimistic about the future of air travel, saying that
“more and more passengers will use the [self] check-in facility...
time spent at airports will be reduced.”
E-tickets have also altered the way travel agents function. For
Diaa Kamel, managing director of Gulf Travel, e-tickets provide
better service for less cost. “With paper tickets, when customers
asked for changes during their travel, they had to go to the airline,
make the changes and then have another ticket printed out,”
he says. “With e-tickets, it’s more efficient and less
troublesome.”
The introduction of e-tickets and the increase of do-it-yourself
services would appear to threaten the business of travel agents
– who derive their bread and butter from the complexities
of ticket booking. But Kamel insists the travel agent is under no
threat of extinction. “It [e-ticketing] is not threatening
our business because of the nature of Egyptian clients, who want
to talk to and take the opinion [of the travel agent],” he
says. “E-tickets are available for everyone, but travel agents
offer a higher quality of service. When planning honeymoons or business
trips, choosing hotels and [comparing between] different packages,
you cannot talk to a machine. I don’t see e-tickets as a threat;
they’re simply a new tool to facilitate traveling.”
Furthermore, Kamel adds, “Egyptian passengers do not trust
[computers]; the option of the paper ticket [caters to their] sense
of security.”
A lingering problem is the novelty of the e-ticket, which is sometimes
met with confusion by security officials in Egypt’s airports.
“[They] are not always aware of e-tickets and are usually
searching for a paper ticket,” he explains. These problems
will work themselves out, Okasha insists, “as people become
more acquainted with the concept.”
In the meantime, Egypt’s travel industry is quickly zeroing
in on the benefits of electronic booking and e-ticketing. To date,
at least 30 airlines offer the option of e-ticket booking for flights
leaving Egypt. And with paper tickets expected to be phased out
in the very near future, more carriers will surely join them soon.
BOOKING AN E-TICKET
E-tickets can be booked through a travel agent, over the
phone or via the airline’s website. Simply select a
destination and purchase the e-ticket using your credit card.
Upon payment, a reference number is generated and your e-ticket
receipt should follow shortly via email, fax or express mail.
Alternatively, some airlines allow customers to book the flight
online then collect their receipt upon cash payment at the
airline’s branch office.
Interline e-tickets allow travelers to book their entire flight
route on multiple carriers using one e-ticket, accounting
for any layovers and connecting flights. Many of the larger
airlines issue these for flights booked on their partner carriers.
EgyptAir requires that passengers present personal identification
and the credit card used to book the e-ticket at the check-in
counter. Other airlines including Air France and KLM offer
an online check-in service, allowing customers to choose their
seats online and print out their boarding pass. The traveler
needs only check in their luggage, reducing the time spent
at airports. |
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