VietNamNet Bridge – The national air carrier of Vietnam will finally sell tickets on the Internet as of December 15, 2008.

When passengers book their tickets online and pay for the tickets, they will receive an announcement from the airlines verifying their booking. Buyers can pay by credit card Connect 24 issued by the Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank).

Passengers can bring the printed version of their Vietnam Airlines’ announcement and their personal documents to the airport to fly with Vietnam Airlines.

Vietnam Airlines had planned to start selling tickets online in November 2006, but it was postponed to February 2007, then to June 2007, and now December 15, 2008.

Online booking service is a necessary condition for implementing the e-ticket project but for Vietnam Airlines’ passengers who buy an e-ticket they would still have to go to the firm’s booking office to declare personal information and show up with their personal documents.

Explaining this sluggishness, Vietnam Airlines’ official Le Hong Ha said the firm’s passenger service software, including the booking software, is designed to have connection to and process information from various booking systems of other airlines in the world so it still requires a lot of time for testing.

(Source: VNE)