Air India Ticketing procedures New Ticketing Procedures 23 rd February, 2011 We are pleased to inform that Air India Ltd, the merged entity of AI-coded flights and IC-coded flights, will move to a single code AI (098) by migrating to Passenger Service System (PSS) provided by SITA. The migration has been re-scheduled to take place on 25th of February, 2011 and cutover is expected at 1230 hrs 26th February, 2011. This document has been prepared to provide guidance on the issuance, reissuance and refund of Air India (AI-098) documents and IC-058 documents after 26th February, 2011, when Air India has moved to a single code. 1. System Outage During the migration, Air India s Reservation and Ticketing functions for AI and IC codes will be disabled for 12 to 13 hours. Air India System Estimated Outage due Migration to SITA UAE Local Time Duration Start Time 2300 End Time 1230 1330 No transaction will be performed by travel agents during the above period. 2. Flight Mapping While migrating to SITA, the IC-coded flights will be filed as AI-coded flights with a pre-defined mapping logic. This new flights schedule will be updated in all GDS s, two days prior to the migration. 3. Migration SITA is working with Air India teams for migration of core PSS Data migration from existing IC PSS (RTB) and AI PSS (ARTICA) on to its SITA Host System. Page 1 of 5
AI- Code IC-Code PNR E-ticket PNRs from ARTICA will migrate to SITA 098 E-tickets from ARTICA will migrate to SITA E-ticket Database (ETDB) provided by Travel Port. PNRs from RTB will migrate to SITA 058 E-tickets will continue to remain in current Amadeus ETDB and will not be migrated. However, these e-tickets can be displayed and available for check-in. All passengers holding 058 documents with IC coded flight numbers will be accepted for boarding on the corresponding AI coded flights. It is not mandatory to have the 058 document to be reissued in to 098 document. If the passenger desires to make a change in the reservation, he or she will have to contact the nearest Air India Offices for making the necessary changes to reservation and e-tickets. 4. Reservation Procedure Following is highlights of migrated PNRs in SITA; PNR Flight Number SSR TKNE AI-Code flights AI Record Locator will remain the same Some migrated PNR will have new flight numbers if the flight number changes SSR TKNE will have 098 ticket number IC-Code Flights Air India will send New Record Locator (NRL)/ Transfer Record Locator (TRL) to the GDS s Migrated PNR will have new flight number with AI code SSR TKNE will display the old 058 ticket number Page 2 of 5
5. E-ticketing Procedure AI 098 e-tickets will be migrated to SITA. IC-058 e-tickets will remain in Amadeus ETDB and will be checked-in on AI-coded flight under the 058 ticket number. Any changes to the itinerary will require the 058 document to be reissued at an airline office to a 098 document. Functionality AI-code 098 E-tickets IC-code 058 E-tickets Functionality AI-Code 098 E-tickets IC-Code 058 E-tickets Fresh E-Ticket Normal issuance possible Prohibited Issuance E-ticket will show old flight 058 E-ticket will show old flight Flight Number in old number even though the flight number even though the flight Tickets number has changed number in the PNR has changed Revalidation Reissue Revalidation not permitted. It is recommended that each ticket is reissued as flight numbers are expected to be changed. Normal reissuance procedure Revalidation NOT permitted. Ticket has to be reissued into 098 by Air India Office Reisssue /Exchange of 058 to 098 not permitted Please contact Air India Office for reissuance. Refund Application permitted in BSPlink for IC/058 tickets issued before 26th February 2011. Refund Void BSP will continue to process the approved Refund Applications for Normal refund procedure through IC/058 until 15 May 2011. BSPlink From 16th May 2011 it will be no longer possible to refund IC/058 tickets through BSPlink. In case you would like to apply for refund, Please contact Air India Office. Not permitted after 26th February, 2011 Page 3 of 5
[ 6. Frequently Asked Questions:- i. What is the final date of cut over to SITA? Migration activity resulting in cutover to single code is scheduled to commence from the night of 25 th February-2011 and conclude on 26 th Feb-11.The Actual time of cutover is 1230 hrs 26 th Feb. ii. Will IC Code cease to exist? IC coded flights will cease to exist. Issuance of IC-058 will not be permitted and ticket issued prior to 25 th Feb-11 will remain in existing system. Only refunds will be permitted. iii. Can a travel agent display 058 documents? Yes, Travel agents can display 058-E-tickets.However, they cannot re-issue 058 document into 098- document. iv. What will happen to the tickets issued before 25 th Feb? Would this ticket be valid for travel after 25 th Feb? IC-058 tickets issued before 25 th Feb will be valid for travel on AI-Coded flights after 25 th Feb. Travel Agents can continue displaying them, but no transactions can be performed on them. v. What is the procedure to be followed for revalidation/re-issue of 058 documents? Travel agents cannot perform revalidation of 058-Etickets.Travel agents cannot re-issue 058 into 098 tickets and they must contact the local AI offices for performing these transactions. vi. Will Air India allow a travel agent to take a refund of 058 ticket and issue a fresh 098 ticket should there be any changes to the itinerary? What is the procedure to be followed for revalidation/ re-issue of 058-etickets? Air India will not permit a travel agent to refund a 058 ticket and issue a fresh 098 ticket for any change in the itinerary. The reissuance will be performed by the nearest Air India Office to a 098 ticket. vii. Will AI accept IC-058 tickets for check-in? Will AI have a timeline for accepting IC validated ETs? Yes. Air India will accept valid 058 documents for check-in. There is no timeline for acceptance at check-in. viii. Will the availability now show the current IC flights as AI flights? All IC-coded flights will be filed under AI code as per pre-defined mapping logic. ix. Will we be able to see the ticket images of the migrated IC PNRs with the original ticket numbers? The IC PNRs will migrate with a new AI PNR. The flight number in PNR segment will change into AI coded flight. However, the PNR will still have IC -058 ticket number. The 058-ticket will still display old IC coded flights. x. Will IC remove IC access to all agents through BSP link? If Yes, by when? The member ship of IC code in all BSPs will remain for next 3 months. Access to agents through BSP link will continue until 15 th May-2011. Page 4 of 5
xi. What will happen to IC capping post migration? Will that get transferred to AI? Air India Regional Offices are working on new capping limits to cover both AI and IC sales. Capping of IC will not automatically transfer to AI. xii. Will the Travel Agents require provisioning of fresh request to AI for a new capping? Please contact Air India s Regional Mangers for capping requirements. xiii. Please provide an updated list of staff authorised to update and append AI capping for both domestic and international. 7. Air India Contact Details Please contact Air India s Regional Offices or the Sales Offices for capping queries. Travel Agents can contact the following numbers for any further clarifications. ABU-DHABI 02-6313789 AL-AIN 03-7664789 DUBAI 04-2216789 SHARJAH 06-5627000 AJMAN 06-7442789 FUJAIRAH 09-2231989 RAS-AL-KHAIMAH 07-2221789 Page 5 of 5