IBM, which has developed e-ticketing technology for several international carriers, said it aims to provide a network through which hundreds of airlines world-wide can launch e-ticketing services or communicate with one another to coordinate e-ticketing changes.

Financial terms for the project weren't disclosed, but the U.S. company said the platform should be up and running by the middle of next year. An IATA official couldn't immediately reached for comment., but the group, which represents 266 airlines world-wide, has said it plans to expand the use of e-tickets.

Electronic ticketing, first widely used by regional U.S. airlines earlier this decade, reduces processing costs, cuts down on paper and eliminates the need forpassengers to carry the traditional multilayered tickets. But because airlines rarely use common systems for their computerized passenger information, passengers travelling on more than one airline often run into problems with e-tickets.

"The airline industry needs a global e-ticket solution," said Patti Jones, a world-wide air-transport segment executive for IBM in Dallas. "As we talk to airlines on a global basis, they want to move on with e-ticketing because of the savings it can bring and because of the impact it can have on customer service."

Though increasingly used outside the U.S., where industry figures indicate that more than 50% of all domestic airline tickets are processed electronically, e-tickets still can't be used for passengers on multileg routes that involve different carriers. E-tickets also can pose problems for passengers who need last-minute flight changes from one airline to another, because the electronics systems of the two carriers are unlikely to be connected.

Currently, if apaper-ticketed passenger misses a flight or needs to make a hurried change in schedule, that ticket will often be honored by another carrier. But without physical proof of the ticket, such changes are difficult to make. For similar reasons, e-tickets aren't issued to passengers whose itinerary involves various carriers and more than one destination.

David Dingley, e-business marketing manager in the United Kingdom for IBM's global travel and transportation unit, said the joint project will essentially provide the technology to link the e-ticketing systems of all carriers that subscribe to the service. ``It will put all the information in a common place, routing it where the airlines need to see it,'' he said.

(The Asian Wall Street Journal)