UAE Exchange expands ticketing arrangement

The UAE Exchange, buoyed by the success of its ticketing arrangement with Bahrain Air, now plans to expand this arrangement with another airline, said the country manager. Deepak Nair, Country Head – Bahrain of UAE Exchange, told the Bahrain News Agency that the exchange was now negotiating a similar arrangement in Bahrain with yet another airline. Without divulging names, since the negotiations are at an advanced level, Nair only said that the arrangement would be arrived at in the very near future. “The Bahrain Air ticketing venture has been good, with customers calling our call centres in all areas where the airline has no centres,” he said. The passenger makes a booking with an airline call centre and obtains a reference number (PNR) from the airline. Armed with that reference number the passenger can visit the UAE Exchange counter nearest his residence, said the country head. The details of the ticket when entered into the system gives the information and the ticket can be purchased without any delay, he added. Such an arrangement, he said, alleviates the need for the passenger to travel down long distances in search of an agency from where the ticket may be purchased, said Nair. Sources in the travel agency business said the impact of such a move was not thought of as yet since business was not hit as much as to warrant a study.