Domestic airlines weighing IATA’s digital travel pass
With airlines around the world testing the waters for a digital passport backed by the International Air Transport Association ( IATA), market watchers said Chinese airlines and tourism information service providers may jump to the bandwagon.
IATA is advocating a digital passport, with the global airline industry expected to remain cash negative this year, to help passengers easily and securely manage travel in line with government requirements for COVID- 19 tests.
Market watchers said airlines and information providers like TravelSky Technology might get involved with the Travel Pass. TravelSky Technology is a dominant provider of information technology solutions for China’s aviation travel sector.
It is becoming clear that vaccines and testing will play a role as the pandemic comes under control and economies ramp up, including the travel sector. The IATA Travel Pass will enable travelers to securely control their health data and share it with the authorities, according to a release IATA sent to the Global Times on Thursday.
A growing list of airlines including Air New Zealand, Copa Airlines, Etihad Airways, Emirates, Qatar Airways, Malaysia Airlines, RwandAir and Singapore Airlines – have conducted trials of the pass or will do so.
The IATA Travel Pass will initially be offered to Etihad’s guests on selected flights from Abu Dhabi in the first quarter of 2021. If successful, the pass will be extended to other destinations on the Etihad network, according to a note sent from Etihad on Thursday.
The IATA Travel Pass enables Emirates passengers to create a “digital passport” to verify their pre- travel test or vaccination meets the requirements of the destination. They will also be able to share the test and vaccination certificates with authorities and airlines to facilitate travel, Emirates said.
Efficient digital management of health credentials is vital to restart travel. Manual processes will not be able to cope with volumes once the recovery begins. Digital solutions must be secure, work with existing systems, align with global standards and respect data privacy. In developing the IATA Travel Pass these are fully in focus, said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s director general and CEO.
IATA highlights putting travelers in control of their personal information for top- level data security and data privacy, and global standards recognized by governments to ensure verified identity and test or vaccine information are the priority in the design.