While SAS and Lufthansa test the concept of ticketless travel, upstart Euro Belgian Airlines Express is doing it for real and Swissair is working on a paperless 'Lite' carrier.
Offering one-class service, low fares, and a simplified booking/check-in, EBA Express began scheduled services in November from Brussels to Vienna, Rome/Ciampino and Barcelona. 'The product is a ticketless product,' says managing director Victor Hasson. 'We must issue one, but it is useless for us.'
Hasson says the views of both the industry and the customer need to be changed for a truly paperless airline to work. With no tickets, some way must be found to issue mandatory Warsaw Convention information. Hasson wanted to issue reusable plastic boarding cards, but customs officials need paper evidence.
The carrier has its own reservation system and customers call toll-free numbers or book through travel agents. Without access to the major CRSs, Hasson says the carrier relies on advertising directly to the customer in the cities served.
With few restrictions on its tickets, EBA undercuts competitors like Sabena, whose weekday fares are claimed to be up to four times as expensive. EBA Express is owned 51 per cent by City Hotels and 49 per cent by other Belgian investors.
Adding three or four 737s to its current fleet of eight in March or April will allow the carrier to expand its routes. Copenhagen, Madrid and Nice are possibilities, but London is not high on the list. 'We do not like the impact of the train on London-Brussels, and there is already competition on these routes,' says Hasson. Hasson does not feel bound to the main airports or primary cities. Ultimately Hasson wants to establish bases other than Brussels, exploiting the third package. But EBA Express will not cover the routes served by the charter operation of its parent EBA.
Meanwhile Swissair has spent several months looking at a 'Lite' product that surpasses all the current models including EBA Express, which a senior Swissair source describes as a 'highly developed intermediate' of the Swissair 'Lite' product. The latter would not bear the name of Swissair or Crossair.
Sources within Swissair have different views about the carrier's intentions. Some say the airline has decided not to go ahead due to the risk of damaging the existing high-quality product, and instead will transfer the best ideas into the normal Swissair operation.
Others say that, while the project is being postponed due to difficulties with access to the European market, it has been approved by the board and a trial is likely in 1995 on a route that does not offer much competition to Swissair. The UK, Germany, France or the Netherlands are likely choices, as they have the most liberal aviation agreements with Switzerland.
Others say that, while the project is being postponed due to difficulties with access to the European market, it has been approved by the board and a trial is likely in 1995 on a route that does not offer much competition to Swissair. The UK, Germany, France or the Netherlands are likely choices, as they have the most liberal aviation agreements with Switzerland.
Source: Airline Business
