Dubai: The International Air Transport Association (IATA) on Wednesday said passengers aboard a Singapore-London flight will become the first to use the industry body’s ‘Travel Pass’ digital health passport.
“We have very good news today, the first traveller using the IATA Travel Pass will arrive in London from Singapore later this afternoon,” said Alexandre de Juniac, CEO of IATA, during a virtual event.
“Efficiently and securely handling health credentials, vaccine and testing certificates will be essential to an efficient restart,” said de Juniac. “We believe that the IATA travel pass will play a major role - this trial implementation is a major milestone on the way to the app’s release in April”
Earlier this month, Singapore Airlines (SIA) became the world’s first airline to pilot the Travel Pass platform for digital health verification, starting with passengers travelling from Singapore to London from March 15 to March 28, 2021.
Passengers with mobile phones running on Apple’s iOS operating system will be invited to download the, and create a digital ID comprising their profile photo and passport information. They can also insert their flight information into the app.
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 International Air Transport Association (IATA) has engaged with authorities in many countries to fast-track this effort, seen as vital to turnaround the sinking fortunes of the airline industry.
