BRITISH Airways has issued mandates across the Middle East making electronic tickets compulsory for all its passengers.
Passengers purchasing BA tickets in Doha, Kuwait, the UAE and most recently Oman and Bahrain, will automatically be issued an electronic ticket.
The airline is keen to be early meeting the deadline set by IATA for all airline tickets to be electronic by 2007.
Any passenger who insists on being given a paper ticket instead will have to pay a penalty of around US$38. BA claimed this would cover the cost of issuing a more expensive and time-consuming paper ticket.
“As the first European carrier in the region to introduce e-ticketing we are taking the lead in implementing the new technologies available in the travel industry,” said Sunita Gomes, BA manager Oman and Yemen.
“Currently 76% of our customers worldwide use an e-ticket,” added Steven Harrison, Bri- tish Airways manager, Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia.“We are striving towards our 100% e-ticket goal, ahead of IATA’s deadline,” he said.
Airlines that don’t hit IATA’s deadline could face serious financial consequences as IATA affiliated travel agents will not be issuing paper tickets after December 2007.
Follow us on
