Dubai: The International Air Transport Association (IATA) on Wednesday said the first version of its ‘Travel Pass’ platform will be made available on Apple Store on April 15th.
The Travel Pass initiative will allow passengers to have a digital passport verified with all their pre-travel test or vaccination details to meet the requirements at the end destination. They will also be able to share test and vaccination certificates with authorities and airlines to facilitate smoother processing at airports.
The android version will take a “little longer,” said Kamil Al Awadhi, IATA’s regional vice president, Africa and Middle East, during a virtual event.
Demand stays low
Passenger demand for airline services in the Middle East was down 80 per cent in January 2021, compared to the same period in 2019.
“Before the crisis, we had almost 30,000 unique international routes between airports in the world, today, we have about 12,000,” said Al Awadhi.
The pandemic has resulted in a “massive” loss of air connectivity, while shutting down international tourism, conventions, expositions, airports, handling agents, and even some airlines in the Middle East, said Al Awadhi.
Prior to the pandemic, the Middle East region used to have 1,060 unique international routes. However, this number crashed to 440 at the low point of the crisis.
