Indian has partnered with Galileo India, a global distribution service provider, for e-ticketing on the airline's domestic sectors. Dr Vishwapati Trivedi, Chairman and Managing Director, Indian, said that e-tickets could be issued on the Galileo platform for flights departing from 11 cities to six metros.

In the first phase, e-tickets could be issued for departures from Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Bhubabeswar, Pune, Nagpur and Goa to Chennai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai.

The airline also plans to introduce a passenger services system, which will give customers benefits like check-in, self check-in kiosks and special service to passengers with special needs.

Mr Bruce Hanna, COO, Galileo India, said that Indian and Galileo have now reached an agreement to distribute domestic content through the global distribution system to all Galileo agents worldwide.

He said that there would be wider reach and ease of distribution resulting in increased revenue. The other benefits are query and sale through a single window, real time access and instant confirmation. There would also be reduction in cost and increased productivity for the airline, he said.

He said that Galileo would also be setting up an exclusive call centre at Indian's premises with a toll free number.

Cost Reduction

Ms Anita Khurana, Director (Commercial), Indian, said that the entire network would be covered by the end of March. Indian would continue to issue paper and e-tickets for some time until the system settles down, she said. Inter-airline agreements (with other airlines) could be in place in another three to four months, which would enable the airline to meet the International Air Transport Association (IATA) deadline by the end of 2007 for e-ticketing, she said.

When asked what the reduction in cost would be, she said that it was "too early to quantify" the savings, but said it would be "considerable". The savings in Indian market context would be a little lower than the $9 per ticket projected by IATA.

She said that last year India emerged as the fastest growing market for e-ticketing. In 2006, 60 per cent of the tickets booked on domestic sectors were e-tickets. Talking about the fleet acquisition for Indian's subsidiary Alliance Air, Dr Trivedi said that the company would be acquiring six ATR (turboprops) aircraft and six smaller jet aircraft — either Bombardier or Embraer — to fly the regional routes. The aircraft with pilot would be on lease, he said.