Spanair leads the way for electronic tickets in Spain

Spanair leads the field amongst Spanish airlines in the issuing of e-tickets, achieving 99.1% in sales recorded by travel agencies for September according to IATA's (International Air Transport Association) monthly ET Readiness Report.

The report also concludes that Spain is the European country issuing the highest percentage of its tickets in this format, with a figure of 93.2%; ahead of countries such as Portugal (91.8%), Norway (90.6%), Sweden (87.9), Switzerland (87.7%), Germany (84.9%) and France (86.5%).

Thanks to the agreement between Spanair and 40 airlines around the world, the carrier has achieved its highest figures for e-tickets in 2007, and is now one of the 10 leading companies from the four European countries achieving the highest percentage figures for e-tickets.

An e-ticket is an electronic record featuring the same information as the current paper tickets. Therefore, after making their reservation, passengers receive their flight itinerary and receipt of payment, whether via the internet, the traditional postal service or directly from a point of sale, and it's only necessary for them to present their national identification document at check-in.

This is an added guarantee for passengers flying, eliminating the possibility of missing their flight due to a forgotten or lost ticket. Furthermore, since e-tickets are virtual, a single return ticket is issued for the journey, regardless of the number of stopovers or different companies from the 40 with which Spanair has an agreement, including the Star Alliance member airlines. With this type of ticket, Spanair ensures its passengers greater comfort in respect to connecting flights since the check-in process is simplified and the transaction is quicker.

In addition, e-tickets reduce the company's costs by eliminating the need for paper, printers and scanners, and by simplifying the process for changing bookings. They also enable further productivity improvements, including increased possibilities for auto-check-in at airports.

"Stipulated by IATA, from June 2008 airlines will only issue electronic tickets and, once again, Spanair is complying punctually with the provisions of the regulatory body for commercial aviation. We expect to be able to totally withdraw paper tickets even prior to the aforementioned deadline", stated Lars Nygaard, Director General of Spanair.

Spanair was founded in 1986 and offers more than 600 daily flights operated with a fleet of 63 aircraft and in code share with its partners, to 241 destinations. Since April 2003, Spanair is a member of Star Alliance, the largest and most prestigious airline network in the world.

For further information, log on to Spanair.com, or visit your Travel Agency.