Vietnam airlines puts e-ticketing on hold
Vietnam Airlines is attempting to make travel simpler for its passengers by providing an electronic ticket (e-ticket) service that aims to limit the risk of damage and loss of paper tickets.
However, the company is hitting quite a few major hurdles trying to introduce the modern technology, including a lack of laws governing e-ticketing, Vietnamese peoples traditional distrust of credit cards and insufficiencies in the nation's telecommunications and banking infrastructure.
Nguyen Tan Chan, a Vietnam Airlines spokesman, said plans are being held up because the legal framework for the e-commerce operation is yet to be completed due to no Electronic Transaction Laws existing in Viet Nam.
The e-ticket contains the same information as the current paper ticket, yet can also store other information important to the customer and airline.
In the future the company plans to sell it in a number of different locations including the internet, Vietnam Airlines booking offices or other foreign airlines who contract to sell their ticket on Vietnam Airlines flights.
A credit card will have to be used by customers to pay for an internet purchase, though in the current technological climate many Vietnamese people do not trust this method of payment due to worries about fraud.
The introduction of the e-ticketing service has also stalled because the country's telecommunications infrastructure and banking system is not sophisticated enough to reach world standards.
Another minor hiccup causing Vietnam Airlines officials' concern is that Government officials, under the present system, will find it impossible to pay travel costs because the Ministry of Finance has regulated that the official's travel cost will be paid only on production of physical counterfoils.
Chan added that e-ticketing price is also under consideration. "E-ticket price is being looked at to ensure competitiveness with other major international airlines," Chan said, adding that the price will be suitable to Viet Nam residents' condition.
Vietnam Airlines is expected to inform the public of the e-ticket price as soon as possible.
The e-ticket is a part of Vietnam Airlines' e-commercial project, which commenced in late 2001, as well as being part of the airway's business simplification process initiated by the International Airway Association.
Moneyplans.net - March 11, 2005.
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