Sabre drives eticketing in Asia

The SabreSonic Ticket Interline Electronic Ticketing Hub from Sabre Airline Solutions is gaining momentum as it works towards helping Asia/Pacific airlines meet the deadline set by the International Air Transport Association’s Simplifying the Business initiative.
This initiative aims to have full implementation of e-ticketing among airlines globally by end of 2007.
Among carriers who have recently signed up to the e-ticketing hub are Jet Airways, Air New Zealand and Philippine Airlines.
They join the other 64 carriers that are already participating globally including American Airlines, US Airways, British Airways, Qantas Airways, Iberia, Cathay Pacific Airways and Japan Airlines. 
Interline e-ticketing enables a passenger to travel to almost any destination on multiple airlines using just a single electronic ticket.

Andrew Powell, regional vice president of Sabre Airline Solutions, said, “The exponential uptake of the SabreSonic Ticket Interline Electronic Ticketing Hub is testament to the fact that Sabre Airline Solutions is directly addressing airlines’ needs regarding IATA’s new e-ticketing mandates.  This is also good news for the traveling public. It means that airlines can more easily share information about connecting passengers and are in a better position to manage situations where a passenger is delayed and will miss a connecting flight. Passengers also like the fact that they don’t have to collect and keep track of paper tickets for their flights.”
Jet Airways selected the e-ticketing hub to streamline its e-ticketing processes and create a cost-effective way to quickly implement interline e-ticketing relationships with airlines that participate in Sabre Airline Solutions’ universal e-ticketing hub.
“Meeting the e-ticketing deadline through expanded interline and codeshare relationships is a commitment we are focused on achieving and a crucial part of our growth strategy, particularly as we transition from being a domestic Indian carrier to a truly global airline. The SabreSonic Ticket Interline Electronic Ticketing Hub and codeshare capabilities will allow us to rapidly implement new relationships that are integral to our international expansion,” said Belson Coutinho, head of e-commerce and distribution at Jet Airways.
Similarly at Air New Zealand, the IET hub was engaged to speed up the process of meeting IATA’s mandate to be completely independent of paper tickets by 2007.
“We are highly supportive of IATA’s new mandates that are geared toward improving passenger convenience and cutting costs by using technology more effectively. Working in partnership with Sabre Airline Solutions, we look forward to profiting from efficiencies not just for ourselves, but also for our customers,” said Air New Zealand CIO Alastair Grigg.
The e-ticketing hub is part of SabreSonic Ticket, a state-of-the art e-ticketing module for airlines that eliminates the need for carriers to build costly systems for electronic ticket distribution and database maintenance. The hub significantly simplifies the process for enabling interline e-ticketing between two carriers. This capability comes at a time when there is a growing interest in e-ticketing, including itineraries that include travel on different carriers. 
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