SINGAPORE--31 Oct--Xinhua-PRNewswire-AsiaNet/InfoQuest SITA's 8th Annual Airline IT Trends Survey carried out in conjunction with Airline Business magazine, indicates that Asia Pacific's airlines are embracing self-service air transportation, shifting to a traveler-centric model to facilitate passenger movement. The survey shows just how rapidly airlines in the region are deploying self-service technology and how quickly passengers are adopting it. There has been growth in Asia Pacific airlines selling e-tickets, from 22% in the 2005 Airline IT Trends Survey, to 50% of this year's respondents. This is expected to rise to 76% by 2007 and 94% (compared to the global figure of 90%) by 2008.Just 4% of airlines in the region issue no e-tickets compared to 9% last year. Bar coded boarding passes are also on the rise with 60% of airlines expecting to issue them by the end of this year and that number will rise to a leading 88% (compared to global 79%) by the end of 2007. This will faciltate self-service check-in, whether online or via kiosk. These two initiatives alone are saving the industry billions of dollars. Web check-in has now been implemented by 50% of airlines and this will increase to 77% by the end of 2007, ahead of the 72% globally. By the end of 2007, the number of passengers using check-in kiosks is expected to rise from the now 22% to 29%. The survey also found that only 28% of self-service kiosks are common-use i.e. can be used by customers of multiple airlines, but this is expected to rise to 41% by the end of 2007. Francesco Violante, SITA CEO, said, "The speed at which the industry is moving towards a self-service passenger model is clearly borne out by the technology investment priorities of airlines. 80% of airlines responding to the survey see projects with proven payback and cost savings, such as on-line booking, bar-coded boarding passes and self-service check-in as their highestpriority, up from 50% last year," added Violante. This year's survey indicates that aviation will become the world's first totally IP (Internet Protocol)-enabled industry, putting the power of the worldwide web at the service of the airlines and passengers. The survey results released today reveal that 82% of airline locations worldwide now have IP connectivity, rising to 89% by the end of 2007 and 93% by the end of 2008. In parallel, 78% of airline systems are now IP-enabled and will reach 83% by the end of 2007 and 87% by the end of 2008. Paul Coby, SITA chairman, said, "This year's Airline IT Trends survey provides the clearest evidence yet that the airlines will be the world's first fully web-enabled industry. IP is the underlying communication technology that enables many new applications, such as online reservation systems, so it has brought a radical change to air travel ever since SITA developed the first internet booking engine just over ten years ago. It is also driving the self-service business model, which is both convenient for passengers and helpsairlines keep ticket prices down." The survey also establishes for the first time that the average IT headcount at Asia Pacific airlines is the highest globally with 2.2% compared with 1.8% of the global airline workforce. In terms of percentage of revenues spent on IT, the region has one of the lowest at 2.1%. 58% of respondent airlines in the region have higher IT headcount than five years ago and 54% expect to increase IT headcount over the next three years. The on-line booking revolution, which saves airlines enormous amounts of money on distribution costs, continues to gain pace in the region. 19% of tickets are currently sold on-line (compared to 10% in 2005), leaving room for improvement as airlines seek to eliminate commissions on ticket sales. Just 8% of airlines sell no tickets through web-based channels, and call centre ticket sales are at 14% compared to 12% in 2005. The rise in online ticket sales is an indicator of further pressure on the traditional travel agent. The major issues highlighted by Asia Pacific airlines with regard to on-line sales were the complexity of airline pricing/fares -- 40%, and the desire not to upset traditional channels -- 16%. Violante also pointed to greater optimism among airlines globally about the savings to be derived from business to business e-commerce. "The trend for the last few years has been a decline in expectation of savings from B2B investments, but this has now reversed with airlines anticipating savings in the order of 13% compared to traditional processes, up from the 10% we recordedin our last survey." The survey also provides further confirmation of the region's appetite for inflight passenger communications. Airlines using SITA-owned OnAir onboard mobile communications solutions include Singapore Airlines, Asiana Airlines, EVA Air, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas Airways, bmi and Ryanair. The percentages of airlines in the region expecting to offer inflight communication channels bythe end of 2008 are: internet access -- 66%; email -- 62%; SMS -- 50%; and mobile phones -- 46%. The Airline IT Trends Survey 2006 provides a detailed snapshot of where the airline industry stands in embracing new technology, gives trends on where investments are being made, pointers on future developments and challenges. It can be ordered through http://www.flightglobal.com . About SITA SITA is the world's leading service provider of IT business solutions and communications services to the air transport industry. SITA manages complex communication solutions for its air transport, government and GDS customers over the world's most extensive communication network, complemented by consultancy in the design, deployment and integration of communicationservices. Its extensive range of airline and airport applications and services includes airport operations and integrated baggage services, common use and desktop services, flight operations and air-to-ground communications and end-to-end airline distribution and fares services. SITA has two main subsidiaries: OnAir, which is leading the race to bring in-flight mobile telephony to the market, and CHAMP Cargosystems, the world's only IT company solely dedicated to air cargo. SITA also operates two joint entures providing services to the air transport community: Aviareto for aircraft asset management and CertiPath for secure electronic identity management and they sponsor the Internet's top level domain reserved exclusively for aviation -.aero. SITA covers 220 countries and territories and the head office is in Geneva, Switzerland. SITA reported aggregated revenues of $1.554 billion (EUR1.295bn) for the year 2005. Further information can be found at http://www.sita.aero . For further information (not for publication) contact: SITA Susanna Leong Regional Marketing Consultant Tel: +65-6548-2872 Mobile: +65-9366-9931 Email: [email protected] SOURCE: SITA --Distributed by AsiaNet ( www.asianetnews.net )--