The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has announced that its digital Travel Pass will launch this month, according to Reuters.
1. IATA Travel Pass
Reuters reported that IATA Regional Vice President for Africa and the Middle East, Kamil Alawadhi, announced the launch of the much awaited Travel Pass, which will be available on the Apple platform from around April 15th and later on the Android platform, although a date for this is unconfirmed. The digital health verification app is still in the testing phases with multiple airlines and has been under development since last year, with Singapore Airlines recently having carried out the first successful trial of the app on an international flight from Singapore to London.
2. How it works
The pass enables the secure uploading of Covid-19 test results as well as potentially proof of vaccination, and according to IATA will also help speed up passenger check-in and pave the way for more contactless travel. Passengers will be able to receive Covid-19 test results and check that they are eligible to undertake their journey, with an ‘OK to Travel’ status being issued once they have met all the requirements. They can then share this status with their airline. The pass also includes useful features such as showing passengers the nearest approved test centres if they require a Covid-19 test.
3. Several airlines already on board
Alawadhi stated, “But the application will only achieve its success once airlines, different countries, airports adopt it”. “A huge amount of airlines have requested to be on board”, he said. Such airlines include Air Baltic, Air New Zealand, All Nippon Airways, Hong Kong Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Rwandair, and Virgin Atlantic. Three of the Gulf’s largest airlines are also ready to conduct trials, and IAG, BA’s parent company, has been working with IATA on the development of the scheme.
