National network of travel agents Advantage believes the switch to e-tickets will create a “shambles” in the sector and is urging authorities to delay the 31 May implementation deadline for another six months.

According to the consortium, the industry is not ready to move from paper to electronic ticketing. It believes the switch will stretch relations between travel agencies and airlines to “breaking point”, particularly when it comes to interlining – commercial agreements between airlines to handle passengers travelling on itineraries that require multiple airlines.

“Airlines that currently have paper ticket interlining are dropping these deals all over the place because, come 31 May, they don’t know how they will pay each other,” said Advantage’s director of business travel Norman Gage.

But International Air Transport Association (IATA) – which had already postponed the original December deadline for e-ticketing – told Computing that it does not intend to further delay the project rollout and labelled Advantage’s claims as “exaggerated”.

“There is no doubt that the switch from paper to electronic ticketing is a big change, but it is a win-win situation overall, especially considering the $3bn (£1.5bn) yearly savings to be generated by the move,” said an IATA spokesman.

“As the project has been four years in the making, a formal move to e-ticketing should not cause that much impact because the industry is already 94 per cent compliant, so any eventual wrinkles in the roll out will be quickly ironed” he said.

British Airways has registered 110 interline agreements with IATA – surpassed only by Northwest Airlines and Singapore Airlines. Other major UK airlines are much lower, with British Midland (bmi) at 50 agreements and Virgin at 46.

“Airlines have achieved a number of agreements which will already meet most needs for interline tickets and it would appear that airlines are on track to achieve their forecast of over 4000 agreements by the end of May, when IATA agents will no longer have paper tickets,” said Bryan Wilson, IATA’s e-ticketing project director.