Bangkok Airways E-Ticket Sales Soars

Paperless tickets account for 80 Percent of sales and should top Bt1 billion on the year, with the UK as its top market. Bangkok Airways expects its revenue from internet bookings to reach Bt1.2 billion by the end of this year.

Bangkok Airways

Bangkok Airways vice president, accounting, Viroj Satitharopagorn said the company has been implementing transactions over its website since September 2000, when the carrier brought in around Bt500,000 in revenue from its Internet bookings.

Bangkok Airways

According to Mr Viroj, the ongoing growth for e-booking is soaring, with online sales currently accounting for 80% of total passenger sales. Last year, average monthly revenue stood at around Bt80 million, with total e-booking revenue from January until now reaching Bt788 million.

“IATA expects all air tickets to be paperless by 2008

which will be one of the key elements in raising the growth of Internet bookings. Further, passengers tend to book directly with the airline over the Internet,”

Mr Viroj

He added that the carrier’s biggest online booking market is the UK , with the US second and Thailand third. However, at the beginning of the year or during peak season, turnover from Internet bookings from the Thai market jumps into the top two.

Bangkok Airways

On 29 August, the airline signed an agreement with its new partner, Kasikorn Bank, to us its K-Payment Gateway to support the airline’s Internet booking transactions. According to Mr Viroj, Bangkok Air has been testing the system since

Bangkok Airways

May, and sales turnover increased 42 percent in June and 32 percenti n July compared with the same months last year.

Mr Viroj said

that since the beginning of the year, the airline has detected less ticket fraud, which is estimated at only Bt2 million.