Gulf Air forms e-ticketing deal with American Airlines

Gulf Air has announced a deal which will see its passengers, along with those on American Airlines flights, become eligible to use electronic tickets (e-tickets) on certain routes.

The Interline Electronic Ticketing scheme will make the process of changing travel plans en route more smooth, as well as making code sharing programmes easier to implement, says the airline.

It first became involved in e-ticketing late last year and intends to roll out the scheme to all of its flights by December 2007.

"We are pleased to begin our IET implementation with AA, which is an important code share partner of Gulf Air," comments Fareed Al Alawi network vice president for Gulf Air.

"We see this as an important development in our cooperation with AA in achieving better communication between the two airlines with regard to electronic ticket status and greater flexibility for passengers with itinerary on both airlines."

According to the International Air Transport Association, about 61 per cent of tickets sold by travel agents are in the form of e-tickets.

It expects this to rise to 70 per cent of all tickets by the end of the year.

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