Thai-Amadeus
today announced the launch of electronic-ticketing for Bangkok Airways in Thailand, marking the activation of Amadeus’ 150th e-ticketing service in Asia Pacific, and 18th airline e-ticketing partnership in Thailand.Amadeus’ overwhelming success accords with International Air Transport Association (IATA) Director-General Giovanni Bisignani’s recent comments (07-Jun-04) that IATA is targeting 100% ticketless travel by 2007, in his state of the industry address at the airline body’s annual general meeting in Singapore.  He said, “We will drive paper tickets out of the system, reduce airline costs and at the same time improve customer service.”

The third largest regional airline in Asia Pacific , Bangkok Airways, sees this technology as a critical component in the airline’s delivery under its strategic objectives.  Mr. Peter Wiesner, Vice President Marketing, Bangkok Airways, said, “This launch is a key step towards our vision of a “paperless” future.  We are confident that this partnership with Amadeus will enable us to offer our customers convenience through faster check-ins, coupled with flexibility and safety associated with e-ticketing.”

The rapid uptake of this technology is set to continue, and with the addition of Bangkok Airways customer base, Thai-Amadeus’ expects demand from travellers and agents in Thailand to grow even further.  Globally, more than eight million e-tickets were issued in 2003.  That figure is expected to more than double this year.  In Asia Pacific alone, the number of e-tickets issued in the past two years has increased fivefold. 

Mr. Danuj Bunnag, Managing Director of Thai-Amadeus, said, “Amadeus, which pioneered e-ticketing in Thailand in cooperation with the airlines and the travel industry, is also the region’s leading e-ticketing technology provider, now with more than 150 e-ticketing services activated across 12 Asia Pacific markets with 25 airline partners, more than any other technology provider.  We expect to activate a further seven airlines in the region within 2004, and see an even stronger take-up now, as we continue our rollout to meet the needs of airlines, agents and consumers.”

There has been an overwhelming response to e-ticketing from all sectors of the industry including travel agents, and the traveling public.  Mr. Charin Nukornavarat, Managing Director, Global Unionexpress/ Radius Thailand, said “Amadeus e-ticketing is already delivering considerable cost savings through improved operational efficiencies by reducing the workload associated with the issuing, storage and distribution of traditional tickets, and according to IATA’s projections, it could save the airline industry as much as US$3 billion a year.”

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