Air Arabia adds security layer to online bookings

Dubai: In an effort to deter identity theft, Air Arabia said it is adding new security measures to its online booking system.
The airline will begin requiring customers to include the PIN code while booking tickets on its website as an extra security measure, the company said on Sunday.
The use of stolen credit cards to purchase plane tickets is a small but thorny problem for airlines, which absorb the fraudulent bookings as a loss.
Currently, many airlines allow customers to purchase tickets using their credit card or ATM cards on behalf of another person. This capability has been exploited by identity thieves, who purchase tickets using someone else's stolen card.
In the Indian subcontinent, Air Arabia requires ticket holders to present the credit card at the airport. In Sri Lanka, this effectively cut the number of illegally purchased tickets down to zero, according to airline officials.
While the airline said the number of fraudulent tickets bought by identity thieves each year is in the hundreds, or 0.1 per cent of overall transactions, other carriers have suffered greater misfortune.
According to reports in the Indian press this week, Kingfisher Airlines lost Dh15 million in revenues from fraudulent online bookings.
12/08/07 Ivan Gale/Gulf News, United Arab Emirates

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Categories: Foreign Aug 2007, New Aug 2007