Continental Airlines to eliminate paper tickets = = = = Wednesday April 7, 2:28 PM EDT = (Updates with details throughout) NEW YORK, April 7 (Reuters) - Continental Airlines (CAL), in an effort to= cut costs, theft and paperwork, said on Wednesday it will eliminate pape= r tickets by the end of this year. The ban includes tickets for international travel and those that include = other carriers. Continental has so far cut 50 interline ticketing and bag= gage agreements with carriers that do not have electronic ticketing capab= ilities. The company has considered moving to a paperless system for more than fiv= e years, and decided to make its move when it realized that 95 percent of= its domestic customers use electronic tickets and 88 percent use them sy= stemwide. "We now see the point at the end of the road where paper can be eliminate= d," company spokesman David Messing said. = Messing did not have estimates on how much the company would save, though= he said most savings would come in the "back office" where tickets are s= orted, handled and saved. Records will now be saved as computer files, he= said. Customers will still be able to make reservations on the Internet, throug= h a travel agent or on the phone, said Messing. "This change doesn't require you to have a computer to be ticketed or to = travel," he said. Continental shares were down 53 cents, or 3.9 percent, at $13.13 in mid-a= fternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange. = =A92004 Reuters Limited. = Roger EWROPS