BOMBAY, 15 January — Civil Aviation Minister Syed Shahnawaz Hussain formally launched Air-India’s e-marketing initiative whereby passengers have been provided the facility of ticket purchase through the Internet, at a function in Delhi recently. Hussain hoped that the facility would help the national carrier increase its revenues as passengers in today’s techno-savvy world are making more and more use of Internet for e-commerce. Travel business is the number one online consumer-spending segment with more than two million business travelers having spent $3 billion online in 1999, and the figure is all set to grow to $20 billion by 2004 as per a survey conducted by Forrester Research. “A-I is sanguine that the Indian online travel industry will also follow the global trend,” the minister added. He said that A-I had increased is fleet in the year 2001 by taking aircraft on dry lease and that the national carrier will add some more aircraft to its fleet shortly. “It’s heartening to note that this year’s Haj movement is being done by making use of A-I and Indian Airlines aircraft instead of leasing aircraft from a third party,” the minister said. A presentation given on the occasion featured the airline’s new initiative. While initially this facility is being offered to those who purchase their tickets in India for travel commencing form any of A-I’s 11 online stations in India — Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Madras, New Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad, Cochin, Calcutta, Calicut, Bombay and Trivandrum, it will progressively be extended to other markets worldwide. Passengers have to long on to the website www.airindia.com, check the schedules to their chosen destination, ascertain availability of seats and fares being offered, make reservations, pay for the tickets online using their credit cards, and the tickets will be physically delivered to them with 48 hours — all this at any time and on any day of the week, even from their homes.