Abacus enables PIA E-Ticketing in Pakistan

Abacus International is set to bring the convenience of electronic ticketing (e-ticketing) to travellers and agents in the Pakistan. Beginning today, authorised Abacus-connected travel agencies in Pakistan will be able to issue e-tickets for their customers on board Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).

“The roll-out of e-ticketing is an important step in the evolution and development of tourism in the region and will assist us to make significant headway into the Pakistan travel market. We’re proud to be the exclusive agent for PIA and with the added commitment of our travel partners, Pakistan’s tourism industry is set to continue to grow,” said Mr Low. “As e-ticketing continues to gain in popularity in Asia, airlines are increasingly seeing the direct benefits that this tool can offer them in terms of reaching out to the modern traveller, whilst travellers are showing preference for the convenience of paperless travel.”

E-ticketing is a real-time paperless method for airlines and travel agents to issue tickets. Individual ticket information is stored within the airline’s reservation system and can be retrieved electronically, reducing the amount of paper ticket inventory and hassle in re-issuance of misplaced printed tickets.

PIA Senior Vice President, Marketing, Mr. Kamran Hasan said, “Over the past two years, we have been working closely with Abacus to implement e-ticketing, with this partnership representing another milestone for PIA. Switching to the e-ticketing system will strengthen PIA’s presence locally and internationally and we look forward to the positive feedback from agents and travellers alike.”

PIA will save as much as 927 Pakistani Rupees per ticket by adopting e-ticketing over the conventional way of printed and hand-written ticket-issuance. In addition, e-ticketing offers travellers with the ease of convenience and security while offering travel agents a more effective management of their customers’ schedules at the same time.

Travel agents have also welcomed PIA’s move to e-ticketing. “This is a major step forward in our vision of a paperless future,” said Quality International’s General Manager, Mr. Zaki Niazi. 

Clifton Travels, General Manager, Mr. Mohammad Shakeel Khan also welcomed the announcement. “Already, customers in Pakistan are demonstrating a desire for the convenience of e-tickets. This new agreement by Abacus and PIA will enable travel agents to better serve their customers and generate huge cost savings for the industry as a whole,” he said.

Abacus Pakistan has already begun working closely with PIA to familiarise all Abacus travel agents in Pakistan with the electronic ticketing (e-ticketing) system.

E-tickets continue to gain in popularity throughout Asia Pacific, with almost one in every three tickets issued on the Abacus system in January-February being paperless. This is in line with the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA’s) goal of converting all member airlines to paperless ticketing by end 2007.

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