MANILA – Philippine Airlines has completed the implementation of
electronic ticketing for all flights throughout its network, more than
seven months ahead of a deadline set by the International Air Transport
Association (IATA) for the world’s airlines to adopt the system.
PAL becomes the first Philippine carrier to be fully enabled in
e-ticketing – a technology that does away with paper tickets, thus
providing a major convenience for passengers.
The flag carrier launched e-ticketing on May 1, 2004 on flights between
Manila and Cebu. The facility was expanded to its international flights,
starting with the trans-Pacific services, on October 1, 2004.
The following year, PAL gained the capability to issue e-tickets on its
interline partners’ flights, starting with American Airlines on July 12,
2005. Today, the list includes Continental Airlines, Delta Airlines,
Northwest Airlines, British Airways, Air Canada, Emirates, Cathay Pacific
Airways, Qatar Airways, Asiana, Singapore Airlines, Silk Air and Air
Philippines.
PAL completed e-ticketing coverage of its 18 domestic stations on June 24,
2006 and on May 17, 2007, with the cutover of its Beijing station, finally
achieved the full implementation of e-ticketing in its international
network of 24 points.
“This caps a three-year effort to revolutionize our paper ticketing
procedure, which has been in place since the 1940s, and is another
milestone in PAL’s long history of leadership of the industry,” said PAL
president Jaime J. Bautista.
“E-ticketing is a major step towards building a comprehensive electronic
commerce system in PAL – a strategic investment that we expect will yield
long-term benefits.”
Bautista disclosed that the flag carrier was working to enhance its
Internet booking facility, which, in PAL’s latest financial year ending
March 31, accounted for over P1 billion in sales. The revamped facility
will be re-launched later this year, he added.
PAL’s completion of e-ticketing coverage brings it into step with most
major international carriers, which use the technology extensively.
The major global distribution systems in the travel industry, including
Abacus, Sabre, Galileo, Amadeus, Apollo, Inifini, Worldspan, Topas (from
May 30) and Travelshop (from July), have also been plugged into the
airline’s e-ticketing network, enabling them to issue PAL e-tickets to
their customers.
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