Dubai: Emirates airline now offers the IATA 'Travel Pass' to customers flying to 10 cities and plans to extend it to all routes across its network in the coming weeks. Dubai’s flagship carrier has also partnered with Al Hosn, the UAE app for COVID-19 related contact tracing and health documentation.
"Over the past months, we have really accelerated our biometric, contactless and digital travel verification projects to provide our customers with even greater convenience and assurance when they fly with Emirates,” said Adel Al Redha, Emirates’ Chief Operating Officer. “From our biometrics path at Dubai International (DXB) to initiatives like the IATA Travel Pass and integrations with the health authority databases, these projects deliver multiple benefits from better customer experiences to the reduced use of paper, and improved efficiency and reliability in travel document checks.”
Emirates customers flying between Dubai and these destinations - London, Barcelona, Madrid, Istanbul, New York JFK, Moscow, Frankfurt, Charles De Gaulle, and Amsterdam - can use IATA Travel Pass to access the latest COVID-19 related travel information, including the location of PCR test labs, and manage their COVID-19 travel documentation.
Passengers will receive an SMS and email with the activation code and instructions on downloading the IATA Travel Pass app. The airline is progressing on plans to roll-out the IATA Travel Pass solution across its network. The Travel Pass app is available to both iOS and Android users, and can also be used by customers with non-biometric passports.
Al Hosn partnership
From July, Emirates will integrate the Al Hosn app with its check-in systems, expanding on its existing integration with the Dubai Health Authority (DHA). This will enable customers travelling from the UAE to benefit from the quick digital retrieval and verification of COVID-19 medical records, regardless of where in the UAE they had completed their vaccination, or COVID-19 PCR and antigen tests.
Earlier this month, budget carrier flydubai became the first carrier to partner with Al Hosn to provide passengers with digital verification of COVID-19 medical records while travelling from the UAE.
What is the Al Hosn app?
The Al Hosn UAE app is the official integrated digital platform for COVID-19 tests in the UAE through which individuals can receive COVID-19 test results on their smartphones. It also provides the vaccination status of the individual and helps in contact tracing if you get in close proximity to another user who has tested positive for COVID-19. The detection can happen after the user activates their phone’s Bluetooth function.
Every user who downloads the app gets a unique QR code, which contains information about the user’s health. The app is encrypted and the data remains on the user's phone.
What is the IATA Travel Pass?
The International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) Travel Pass is a smartphone app, which helps travellers to store and manage their verified certifications for COVID-19 tests or vaccines.
According to the IATA website, the app enables passengers to verify that their test or vaccination status meets the regulations and share the certificates with authorities to facilitate travel.
It essentially allows travelers to manage COVID-19 related travel documentation digitally and seamlessly throughout their journey.
