Etihad Airways has met the June 1 deadline, set by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), for paper tickets to be scrapped.

The Abu Dhabi-based airline offers e-tickets, the electronic document that has replaced conventional tickets, across the entirety of its network with the three remaining destinations of Peshawar, Tehran and Khartoum now available online, the airline said in a statement.

In addition to meeting the IATA deadline for e-ticketing on its own flights, Etihad has also now achieved 96 per cent e-ticketing with its interline partner airlines, it added.

“To achieve 100 per cent e-ticketing across our entire network of 45 worldwide destinations a month before the IATA deadline is a great achievement for Etihad Airways,” said Etihad’s executive vice president marketing and product Peter Baumgartner.

“Etihad is proud to provide our customers with a wide range of electronic services which makes the travel experience for our customers smoother, speedier and smarter, whether they are booking flights through our award-winning website, using the innovative on-line check-in, the “flight checker” service or flying to any destination on our network with an e-ticket,” he said.

Etihad began implementing commercial e-tickets in July 2006 following a successful fast-track project and has gained praise from IATA and the system provider, Amadeus.

IATA began the drive to 100 per cent e-ticketing as part of its “simplifying the business” programme in June 2004, which is designed to make travel and freight more convenient and at the same time more cost efficient.

Greater convenience is provided to air travellers as they can conveniently make late changes to a booking. Ticket changes can also be made over the phone, removing the need for flyers to visit an airline sales office, the airline said.

When checking-in for a flight customers simply need to present their passport and e-ticket number. The relevant boarding passes are then issued, and the luggage can be checked in, it added.

The Abu Dhabi-based airline also has agreements with more than 50 international carriers which allow passengers to book and fly with Etihad and the partner airlines using a single e-ticket.

“Interline e-ticketing demonstrates Etihad’s ambitions to provide our customers with a stress-free travel experience, not only on Etihad flights but also with our interline partner airlines. E-ticketing also offers a greater level of security both in terms of the document and relevant information,” said Etihad Airways’ manager e-ticketing Chamindra Dayan Lenawa. – TradeArabia News Service