The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said Monday night that it hopes airlines would use e-ticketing system by the end of 2007 as part of the efforts to cut operating costs.

Announcing this at an international aviation conference here, the IATA said that it is looking at every way possible to lower expenses, and one option is to replace the present paper ticketing system by an electronic ticketing system.

Stressing that this will help airlines save as much as US$3 billion, the association said that it hopes all its members would have e-tickets by the end of 2007.

Singapore Airlines, one of the leading carriers in the world, has expressed its full support to the IATA move, saying that it will try to move ahead of the IATA deadline.

The IATA's Director General Giovanni Bisignani said at the conference that for the airlines industry, the insurance market has now returned to normal levels but the security costs are increasing.

The figure for security is about US$5 billion, he added.

The global airlines industry has lost more than 30 billion Singapore dollars (about US$17.6 billion) in the past three years.

(Xinhua News Agency June 8, 2004)