Airline Industry Bids Farewell to Paper Ticket

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) launched a new era in air travel as it bid farewell to the paper ticket on the eve of the industry’s conversion to 100% electronic ticketing.

The history of tickets

Paper tickets date back to the 1920s. Each airline used a different form with varying rules. Airlines soon recognised the need for standardisation of traffic documents, regulations and procedures to support the growth of an industry that spanned the world. In 1930, the IATA Traffic Committee developed the first standard hand-written ticket for multiple trips. These same standards served the industry into the early 1970s.

The first ticketing revolution occurred in 1972 with automation. The IATA Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP) for travel agents began in Tokyo that year. This led to the birth of the IATA neutral paper ticket. For the first time the IATA logo appeared on the cover of tickets that could be used by any travel agent to ticket journeys on almost any airline in the world.

The next revolution took place in 1983, when the system was further automated with a magnetic stripe on the ticket back. This allowed all of the ticket information to be stored electronically on the ticket itself and it could be used as the boarding pass as well.

At its peak, 285 million of IATA neutral paper tickets (both versions) were printed in 2005.

The first e-ticket was issued in 1994. By 1997, IATA had adopted global standards for e-ticketing. But the evolution was slow and by May-04, only 19% of global tickets were electronic.

Simplifying the Business

At the 2004 Annual General Meeting in Singapore, the successive crises of war, terrorism and SARS were still being felt, the price of oil was approaching USD40 per barrel and the imperative for cost efficiencies was critical. IATA presented a plan for Simplifying the Business, the highlight of which was to achieve 100% e-ticketing.

Over four years, IATA deployed a global team of 150 people to work with airlines and system providers around the world to facilitate implementation.

A paper ticket costs an average of USD10 to process versus USD1 for an electronic ticket. With over 400 million tickets issued through IATA’s settlement systems annually, the industry will save over USD3 billion each year.

Consumer benefits

Consumers can look forward to easier travel in an electronic world. 100% ET eliminates lost tickets. ETs can easily be changed and reissued without necessitating a trip to a travel agency or airline ticket office. And they enable a wide array of self-service options such as online and mobile check in.

© Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation