The International Air Transport Association has recognised the role played by Kenya Airways in promoting the uptake of e-ticketing by airlines within the region.

IATA, the world's airline industry regulator gave the national carrier a Last Paper Award plaque engraved "100 per cent ET is now a reality. Thank you for helping us make history."

The airline's IT director Kevin Kinyanjui said Kenya Airways is 10 percentage points short of fully issuing e-tickets only.

"Hopefully by end of this financial year, KQ will have achieved 100 per cent e-compliance," said Mr Kinyanjui.

The industry was considered 100 per cent ET at midnight on May 31, 2008, when travel agents stopped issuing IATA neutral paper tickets.

The four year ET project has been the flagship of simplifying the business programme initiated in June 2004.

The programme has eliminated about 300 million paper tickets from the industry, saving approximately $3 billion annually to member airlines.

Mr Kinyanjui said the carrier is slightly over 90 per cent ET-compliant with the remaining balance being paper tickets issued in non-BSP markets.

Kenya Airways embraced e-ticketing and issued the first such ticket in January 2005.

Currently, the airline has 43 e-eligible destinations, 66 e-interline partners, 30 e-infant partners and e-interline agreements with 8 Global Distribution Systems.