Air ticket becomes paperless from June, amid industry gloom

International carriers have welcomed the move saying e-tickets will improve the convenience of the passengers and offer them a superior flying experience.

"Electronic ticketing benefits both the customer and the airline by providing greater convenience, reduced processing time, simplified operations and faster check-in. It is also paperless, and thus greener. Customer response has been extremely positive, and today e-tickets have become accepted as the norm," said Keith Longstaff, senior vice president (commercial operations), Emirates.

"Virtually all tickets now are electronic, somewhere close to 99 percent," said Tim Wagner, a spokesman for American Airlines. "Paper tickets are really only used by some smaller airlines that have not quite stepped up their technology yet. There is absolutely no reason for or advantage to having a paper ticket."

United Airlines' Jeff Kovick said paper tickets would be available for a few flights, mostly for international travelers using airlines that do not have interline agreements with each other.

In India, domestic airlines like Jet Airways, Air India, Kingfisher Airlines and JetLite have already begun issuing e-tickets.

Some of the international carriers that implemented the e-ticketing system long before the June 1 deadline are British Airways, Singapore Airlines, Air France, Lufthansa, Sri Lankan Airlines, Emirates and GulfAir.