Abacus to offer electronic ticketing for SilkAir flights booked through Asia-Pacific travel agents, e-ticketing is becoming increasingly popular for travelers and airlines today, with SilkAir now the 20th carrier to offer e-ticketing through the Abacus system.

Singapore is the first market to offer e-ticketing for SilkAir. E-tickets for issue on the Abacus system in Singapore will remain optional for the first 30 days of the service, after which, a fee will be levied for the paper ticket issuance.

"This is a great deal for SilkAir, the traveler and our travel agents, as e-tickets are more secure, convenient and also offer substantial cost benefits. One e-ticket saves approximately SG$13.00 for the airline and travel agency compared to each paper ticket issued," said See-Toh Hon Chew, Vice-President, Solutions Development Division and Fares at Abacus International.

"E-ticketing puts an end to the pain of lost tickets, makes any last minute travel decisions easier and assists with the flow of information at all levels of the travel chain. Abacus is dedicated to enable our travel agents with the latest technology to enable efficient air bookings," said Mr. See-Toh.

Mr. David Lim, Vice-President Commercial SilkAir, agrees that e-tickets will simplify bookings for both passengers and airlines. "E-ticketing leverages more effectively on GDS technologies for bookings, giving our passengers greater control over their travel arrangements and helps streamline our airline's revenue accounting processes," he said.

"While we introduced e-ticketing online in September 2003, this partnership with Abacus will extend e-ticketing access to our larger customer base. Given our focus on growing interline traffic, we envisage that our e-ticketing capabilities will present promising opportunities for stronger interline partnerships," said Mr. Lim.

Abacus-connected travel agencies in other regions will also be able to offer their customers e-tickets for SilkAir in the near future. Indonesia is the first market due for roll-out in April, followed closely by Thailand in May.

E-ticketing has enjoyed rapid adoption throughout Asia-Pacific, with Abacus playing a key role in establishing e-ticketing in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and more recently the Philippines.

In 2004, the total number of e-tickets issued through the Abacus system increased over 290 per cent on 2003. As a proportion of the total number of tickets issued through the Abacus system, e-tickets have more than doubled from around 7 per cent in 2003, to over 15.5 per cent of total tickets issued in 2004.