Paper airline tickets out of here very soon
Wave goodbye to the paper airline ticket, at last.
For months, predictions have been it will go the way of the Dodo.
Giovanni Bisignani, director general and chief executive of the International Air Transport Association, made it official when he told a news conference in Montreal that it will be extinct by the end of May.
Replacing paper tickets, and the elaborate global system that processed them, with electronic ticketing will save airlines $3 billion annually, according to Reuters.But when the air transport association pronounced a death sentence on paper tickets three years ago, the idea had doubters, the wire service says.
But the demise of paper tickets has been rapid.
When the association started its program, only about 16% percent of tickets issued worldwide were electronic. The agency estimates that 84% of tickets are now electronic.
The move is even more advanced in the US.
The Airline Reporting Corporation, or ARC said that electronic ticketing last month accounted for almost 97% of tickets it settled.
There are competing claims as to which carrier introduced electronic tickets. But Bryan Wilson, the electronic ticketing project director at the air transport association, said that in 1995 United Airlines introduced the first electronic ticketing system that allowed travelers to complete flights using different carriers.
Report by David Wilkening
David
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Global tourism exceeds 1.5 billion travelers announces UN-Tourism
Qatar Airways offers reduced timetable to over 60 destinations
WTTC global tourism reached record economic impact of 11 trillion in 2025
Marginal increase for New York City tourism in 2025
Hands In, UATP join forces for airline multi-card payments