September 02, 2005Airline e-tickets now 30 pct of market: Poll by SITA and Airline BusinessElectronic tickets now account for 30 per cent of those issued by airlines, up from 19 per cent in 2004, the poll by airlines technology firm SITA and Airline Business magazine showed. Airline e-tickets now 30 pct of market: Poll Reuters London, September 2: Airlines have boosted their use of e-tickets, but tough times for some carriers are slowing the switch to other technologies designed to speed up service, an industry poll showed on Thursday. Electronic tickets now account for 30 per cent of those issued by airlines, up from 19 per cent in 2004, the poll by airlines technology firm SITA and Airline Business magazine showed. Over 70 per cent of airlines sell tickets over the Internet, the poll of executives from 200 airlines showed. The industry has also stepped up efforts to introduce Internet access or phone use aboard planes. The poll found 44 per cent of airlines intend to offer some form of in-flight connectivity by the end of 2007. High fuel prices have dented hopes for airline earnings this year, though fuel surcharges appear to have helped many pass on costs to passengers without losing business. The poll said one risk the industry faces is unnecessary costs stemming from the need to introduce new technology for some carriers, while sustaining legacy systems for those unable or unwilling to upgrade. "It would be a costly duplication if the industry had to retain technology to process both paper and electronic tickets," SITA president Peter Buecking said. North American airlines have gone from the industry's technology leaders to laggards, with Asia-Pacific carriers now the most savvy about upgrading technology, the poll found. IT spending by Asia-Pacific airlines stands at 2 per cent of revenues while at North American carriers the average has fallen to 1.4 per cent from 1.9 per cent a year ago, it said. "Debt-laden airlines have put technology innovation on the back burner to focus on streamlining operations," SITA said in a news release. Bar codes that allow passengers to receive tickets by mobile phone or PDA and print them out ahead of time is one area where North American carriers are ahead of European airlines, with 67 per cent able to offer this service versus just 17 per cent in Europe. Despite tough times for some, low-fare airlines are driving growth overall, with traffic set to double in Europe by 2020, straining airport infrastructure despite plans to spend more than 50 billion dollars on expansion by 2025. Analysts say this growth will force the industry to adopt technology to help speed the flow of passengers, using check-in kiosks, which can take tickets from any airline, for example, to save passengers from having to roam through airports looking for a specific check-in area.
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