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Vietnam’s two domestic airlines
- Vietnam Airlines and Pacific Airlines are scheduled
to start sales of electronic air tickets from the third
quarter of this year.
Vietnam
Airlines (VNA) said its e-ticketing service would first
be available for air routes from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh
City and on routes to central Danang by late this year.
The
sales of e-tickets for international flights are set
to begin earlier next year.
Trinh
Hong Quang of the VNA Passenger Marketing Board said
e-tickets would account for 5.4 percent of VNA tickets
in 2006 and the airlines planned to raise this ratio
to 41 percent the next year.
E-ticket could help VNA cut expenditures of as much
as US$800,000 in the first two years, Quang said.
The
selling of electronic air tickets in Vietnam is in accordance
with the International Air Transport Association (IATA)’s
itinerary of implementing e-ticketing service worldwide.
Accordingly, e-tickets will replace paper tickets through
the IATA Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP) as from 2008.
BSP
is a system for computerized processing of accounts
between Agents and airlines on a country-by-country
basis. Agents deal with all airlines through one central
point - the BSP - rather than having to deal with each
individual airline.
BSP is a standardized system for airlines and agents,
providing them with a simplified approach to the selling,
reporting and administration of passenger air transportation.
Quang
said VNA considered selling e-tickets together increasing
average flying time as two important solutions to help
the airline mark down air ticket costs in the near future.
Although e-ticketing is popular worldwide, domestic
airlines worry that Vietnam’s cash based society will
prove an obstacle, meaning paper tickets will be around
for a while.
Source:
Nguoi Lao Dong – Translated by Thu Thuy - 28 July |
