Mark Pavlides, general manager of distribution of information technology for British Airways Asia Pacific, agreed with the IDC research. He said all the airline's innovation plans for 2006 are tied up in creating a smoother online experience for customers.

Pavlides said most of the innovative IT projects for British Airways will all center on external, customer-driven solutions.

"One of the major deliveries in 2006 is rolling out a better booking engine so passengers have a much easier process for booking flights; this is what our current IT spend is aimed: innovating through a better customer experience. Customers are not very forgiving if a Web page is not up to scratch," Pavlides said.

"We are also looking to use the technology behind the improved site internally, to re-purpose the technology for staff, because there is no point building the same technology a couple of times.

"The IT spend in 2006 is aimed at simplifying business and the biggest ways to innovate is via customer-facing applications and portals."