Oman Air ACSI / E-Ticket now available with Hyderabad Station

Now Hyderabad is connected directly to the full suite of passenger service systems. This system gives customers an enhanced level of service, increase operational efficiency, and reduces cost without compromising at the quality. It improves the passenger check-in processing through new user-friendly display screens and enhances through check-in facilities and electronic ticketing to onward destinations.

Various experts from IT, Training, Central departure control, and Weight & Balance sections were involved in this successful cut over spending over 200 person-hours. As of today, approximately one million passengers have been flown using e-tickets since e-ticketing was launched on 26 September 2005.

Commenting on the success of e-ticketing, Hamad Saif Hilal Al Harthy, Senior Manage Reservations & Global Distribution, who is also the Project Manager, stated that Oman Air has realized 60% penetration on e-ticketing by June 2007, far above the IATA achievement of 51% in Middle East and North Africa. He said that apart from Oman Air and GSA offices, and Oman Air web - www.omanair.aero all approved travel agents as well can issue e-tickets.

He explained that e-ticket already is the defaulting process of issuing tickets for the vast majority of airlines. E-ticketing is a secure form of ticketing that makes passengers' travel plans less discomfited and more efficient. The travel data is all stored electronically in the reservation system, which can be accessed at any time and never lost or stolen unlike paper tickets. Passengers can at any time print their e-ticket receipt from the Oman Air Web site. In addition, a passenger with an e-ticket can check in faster by just producing the e-ticket print out and an appropriate ID. With the implementation of Interline Electronic Ticketing (IET) passengers travelling on more than one airline, can travel with one single electronic document.

"A further more accomplishment, Interline agreements with ten carriers namely, Alitalia, Emirates, Etihad, Gulf Air, Singapore Airlines, Srilankan, Swiss and Qatar who represent 78% of interline business have been concluded which enables Oman Air to exchange coupons and interline electronically on all E-ticket enabled stations, complimenting all members who have spared no efforts in making this task possible." Al Harthy added.

In conclusion, Corporate Communications and Media Department in Oman air said that IATA's report for the year 2006 on developments within the travel and tourism industry, shown that Middle Eastern airlines comprised the fastest growing group worldwide in converting to electronic tickets e-ticket. Volumes in the region increased from 23% at the end of 2006 to 39% at the end of the first quarter of this year. The highest e-ticket penetration was recorded in Morocco, at (62 per cent), followed by Oman (60 per cent), Qatar (57 per cent), and Egypt (57 per cent). IATA, which launched e-ticketing initiative at its annual meeting in Singapore in 2004, set the end of 2007 as deadline to implement 100% e-ticketing, but has recently approved deadline extension to 31 May 2008.