Booking online makes life easier for travellers and air companies and this revolution will reach Air Mauritius by the end of April. Procedures will be easier, quicker and cheaper. This system will offer new facilities to passengers as well as attaining the objective of reducing costs. Changes can be made from anywhere through the Internet; you no longer need to visit the travel agent. All you will have to do is pick up the phone or access the Air Mauritius website, and you will get the response via email. Details are a click or a phone call away. Moreover, on the day of departure there will be no need to have your ticket in hand, all you will need is your passport.

IATA (International Association of Travel Agents) wants all airlines use this system by the end of 2007. IATA?s goal is to cut costs through computerisation. Research has shown that e-tickets cost Rs 30, which is ten times cheaper than traditional air tickets. Air Mauritius should save Rs 150 million on every 500 000 tickets issued according to Megh Pillay, the general manager of Air Mauritius. Online reservation is already widely used; last year 50 % of British reservations were done via Internet.

The e-ticket contains all essential details: passenger?s name, reservation reference, seat number, amongst others. By March 2006, the e-ticket system should be used by all Air Mauritius agencies, says Sushil Baguant, its IT manager.

As air tickets are put on sale a year in advance, travellers will have the choice between booking in advance or waiting until the last minute. They will only have to click on an icon to be able to choose their seat and soon embarkation cards will be available from your computer as bar codes replace the current magnetic strip. These bar codes might even be available on your mobile one day. In due course, automatic self-service machines will be installed at the airport.

These kiosks will enable you to check-in your luggage, which also means no more queuing up. The self-service system will cost approximately Rs 4.80 compared to the current Rs 110. Yet, the queues will not disappear totally since luggage will still have to be registered. Also, in time, electronic chips will be incorporated in luggage tags, which will help locate lost luggage through radio signals, but Air Mauritius will wait for a while before introducing this device.

All this commotion is what the IATA wanted in order to make air companies? lives easier. As for Air Mauritius, the company plans to implement this system well before 2007. Air Mauritius is getting ready for a technological take off!

<B>N. Alphonse</B>