E-TICKET AIRLINES ARE PENALISING BRITAIN'S PIONEERS, SAYS GBTA

Britain's globetrotting business pioneers are being penalised by airlines who are making them pay for new technologies which, in many cases, they don't want and which don't work.

High-tech e-tickets are fine in theory, says the influential Guild of Business Travel Agents – but there are still many parts of the world where they are not recognised or where the requisite technology simply doesn't exist.

And the GBTA says the more adventurous entrepreneurs doing business in the developing world are being charged extra if they want a “real” paper ticket.

British Airways, Singapore Airlines and Dutch airline KLM are among those now levying a £25-per-ticket fee for travellers who don't want – or cannot use – the “virtual” tickets.

“The GBTA is all in favour of cost-saving technologies, but airlines have to be realistic,” says Philip Carlisle, the Guild's chief executive.“E-tickets work wonderfully well for most business trips, but there are still plenty of places where they have yet to catch on.“If anything goes awry, then the traveller has no way of proving that he or she is booked on a particular flight.”

The GBTA, whose 35 members account for approximately 75 per cent of all British business travel, is particularly concerned that the most innovative executives are the ones being penalised.

“Forward-thinking companies looking to unlock new markets in the developing world are making a major contribution to the future of the UK economy,” says Carlisle, “but it is in precisely these farther-flung destinations that e-ticketing systems are most prone to failure.

“While £25 may not sound a lot, if a company has a team of people jetting back and forth on an oil exploration project, for example, it soon adds up.  And if a employee is left stranded, the indirect costs can very quickly spiral out of control.”

Airlines should drop the charges, the GBTA says when the use of the paper ticket is justified on security or operational grounds.

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For further information: Alex Kindell/Vanessa Aves, Brighter Group, tel: 0207 603 2168, email: alex.kindell@brightergroup.com

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