Romanian regular airlines will cut down their costs by over 25 million euros this year if they switch from paper to electronic tickets, considering the estimated traffic flow of 3.8 million passengers.
"Processing of a paper ticket costs up to 10 dollars, while processing of an e-ticket costs up to one dollar," stated Anca Apahidean, country manager with IATA (International Air Transport Association) for Romania and Moldova. Thus, airlines will keep the 9-dollar difference per each ticket sold, that is per each transported passenger.
In January, almost half the tickets sold were electronic ones, with the target being set at 100% e-tickets by yearend.
Given an estimated traffic flow of 3.8 million passengers this year in the case of regular airlines, the average traffic in January was of 315,000 passengers.
Of these, around 150,000 bought e-tickets, which means that regular airlines cut costs by one million euros in just one month. Costs savings amounted to an average of 250,000 euros in January last year.
The cost reduction may be even better, though, if we consider other costs, and not just the ones related to ticket printing.
Cost savings will not always translate into lower ticket prices, with companies to decide in this respect. Still, a certain price decrease could be noticed lately.
However, there are further benefits customers can enjoy when it comes to e-tickets.
It is not only customers, but also airlines, airports, as well as travel agencies that visibly benefit from the use of e-tickets.
British Airways was the first airline to introduce e-tickets on the Romanian market, in 2002. Sales of electronic tickets have now reached 98% of the total ticket sales of this company in Romania.
Meanwhile, a rising number of operators have turned to e-tickets, with this type of tickets accounting for an increasingly higher share of the total tickets issued.
"The top five airline operators in Romania boasting the biggest percentages in terms of e-ticket issues are, in an alphabetical order, Aegean Airlines, British Airways, Czech Airlines, KLM, Swiss International Airlines, all with a percentage of above 85%," specifies Anca Apahidean.
Airlines that do not rely as much on sales of e-tickets in turn want to boost the number of e-tickets sold by the end of this year.
A number of 25 IATA members operate in Romania, including Austrian Airlines, British Airways, KLM, SWISS, Delta Air Lines, Lufthansa, TAROM or Carpatair. The number of airlines interested in the Romanian market is rising, by seven airlines a year on the average.
The share of e-tickets sold in Romania through the BSP system (a IATA system) in the total is below the one reported globally.
E-ticket benefits
The use of e-tickets would aid regular airlines to operate costs savings worth over 25m euros this year
Cost savings do not always show in ticket prices; the decision to cut prices rests with airlines
Costs go down, passengers' comfort increases, the processing time is reduced, which makes travelling more flexible
Benefits are not visible only in terms of passengers, but also airlines, airports, as well as travel agencies
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