The Travel Pass will display test results along with proof of inoculation, national entry rules and details on the nearest labs, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said
Global airline lobby IATA is working on a mobile app that will help travellers demonstrate their coronavirus-free status, joining a push to introduce so-called Covid passports as vaccines for the disease near approval.
The Travel Pass will display test results together with proof of inoculation, as well as listing national entry rules and details on the nearest labs, the International Air Transport Association said Monday. The app will also link to an electronic copy of the holder’s passport to prove their identity.
A test program will begin with British Airways parent IAG SA this year before arriving on Apple devices in the first quarter and Android from April, IATA said. Travellers will be able to share their status with border authorities or present a QR code for scanning.
Qantas Airways Ltd. said Monday a Covid-19 vaccination will be a necessity for its international passengers. Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce told Channel 9 in Australia he has discussed the idea with other airlines, and it’s likely to become a pre-boarding requirement around the world.
It’s going to be a common theme across the board, Joyce said.
While international travel remains in the doldrums amid a patchwork of local restrictions and lockdowns, countries are beginning to embrace testing to shorten or do away with quarantines for arriving passengers. The first vaccines are meanwhile expected to become available in coming months. That’s prompted a spate of technology-led moves to devise mechanisms to monitor travellers’ Covid credentials and combat false claims from people desperate to fly.
IATA’s head of passenger and security products, Alan Murray Hayden, said in a briefing that the group’s aim is to get people into the air again and that it would be happy to work alongside other providers.
Travel Pass will be free to travellers and governments, with airlines paying a small fee per passenger to use the service. It will be based on the existing IATA Timatic system long used to verify documents. The app will use block-chain technology and won’t store data, Murray Hayden said.
The industry group has had positive discussions with one government around using the software and expects other nations to get on board, he said.
