Instead of individual ticket formats issued by airlines, travel agents are given a stock of Standard Traffic Documents (STD) to issue tickets for all airlines
The scheme called the Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP) will simplify ticketing operations, Deannath Kulatunge, Country Manager for the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in Sri Lanka told LBO Wednesday.
Travel agents will make a single payment to Deutsche Bank appointed to run the scheme - each month, which in turn will remit funds to the airlines.
This means that agents will not have to make multiple payments to several airlines, but a single one time payment each month for standard documents.
About 15 of the 18 airlines operating into Sri Lanka, including national carrier SriLankan Airlines has signed on to the scheme and 65 agents.
This represents about 85-90 percent of ticketing in Sri Lanka. On average, 35,000 paper tickets are currently issued each month,†Kulatunge said.
The BSP schem