When it comes to catching the buzz on the global aviation circuit, India appears to be up-to-date. If the latest industry figures on Indian e-ticketing penetration are to be compared with countries in the Asia-Pacific region, we are pretty much in sync.

Good news. But what’s even better is the fact that the growth in e-ticketing during 2006 over last year has been perhaps the highest in the world. According to industry data, shared exclusively with SundayET by Amadeus, a travel IT supplier which tracks the trend on a monthly basis, e-ticket penetration grew from a measly 10% in 2005 to 65% in 2006.

The figure for the year 2004 was a meagre 4%. This percentage reflects the total airline tickets sold through the net.

Against this, the growth in e-ticket penetration in other countries of the Asia-Pacific region have been much lower. While Singapore grew from 55 % in 2005 to 65%, Japan grew from 31 % to 61%. Similarly, Hong Kong and Thailand grew from 46% to 81% and 70% to 81% respectively. Australia and New Zealand grew from 83% to 86%.

Amadeus India managing director, Mr Ankur Bhatia, feels that by the year end, e-ticketing penetration in India would be as high as 90%, which is roughly what the global average is now.

So why this sudden transformation in ticket buying behaviour. The primary reasons are it’s safer, saves time (just a click away) and is cheaper for airlines. In the last four months, most of the offline travel agents have moved to bank settlement plan (BSP), mandatory for issue of e-tickets, which has also boosted.

Kapil Kaul, CEO, Indian Sub-Continent and Middle East, Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) agrees.