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The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is partnering with the Kingdom of Bahrain and Gulf Air to commence the trial of the IATA Travel Pass. Image Credit: Bloomberg

Dubai: Gulf Air will commence the trial of IATA's travel pass starting from May 7 on flights from Bahrain to London, Athens and Singapore.

Passengers holding a biometric passport will be able to trial the app which helps passengers easily and securely manage their travel in line with any government requirements for COVID-19 testing or vaccine information.

The Travel Pass app will have an integrated registry of travel requirements to enable passengers to find accurate information on travel and entry requirements for all destinations regardless of their itinerary. Eventually, it will also include a registry of labs — making it more convenient for passengers to find testing centres and labs at their departure location which meet the standards for testing and vaccination requirements of their destination.

"Gulf Air is proud to partner with IATA as one of the first airlines in the world to commence the trials and we look forward to initiating it on three routes starting from today," said Captain Waleed AlAlawi, Gulf Air’s Acting Chief Executive Officer.

Passengers flying directly from Bahrain to London, Athens and Singapore will be notified with instructions on how to sign up to be part of the trial.

"Through this live trial we hope to demonstrate that governments can efficiently manage travel requirements with complete confidence in the identity of the passenger and the veracity of the travel credentials," said Nick Careen, IATA Senior Vice President for Airport, Passenger, Cargo and Security.

"This is an important step in enabling international travel during the pandemic, giving people the confidence that they are meeting all COVID-19 entry requirements,” he added.