Electronic Tickets changed the sale of airline product profoundly. Where possible, airlines are trying to keep the passenger for themselves," Bredimus says. "In the old days, passengers called airlines to book, but airlines didn't have a way to get tickets to people, so travel agents did that. Airline software consultant Nicholas Bredimus  thinks that  travel agents will continue to serve a specialised function for foreign-flag airlines. "They'll always use travel agents for leisure bookings, because it's not cost effective for them to be present in every market" he explains.