Covid Passports to become a Prerequisite for International Travel

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IATA is working on a new mobile app to successfully push for a Covid passport to boost international travel. The global airline lobby has announced the designing of its in-house app to vouch for the coronavirus-free status of international travellers. The app will be linked to an electronic copy of the user’s passport as an identity proof. The Travel Pass generated by the app will display the test results of the passenger as well as the proof of inoculation. It will also display the national rules of entry as well as details about the nearest laboratories. According to the International Air Transport Association, this will be a step in the direction of enhancing foreign travel.

App Generated Travel Pass

This novel endeavour will first be tested on the British Airways, followed by a full scale roll-out of the application on Apple Inc. devices by the first quarter of 2021 and for android users by April 2021. This travel pass will be free for all passengers and governments with the airlines paying a small fee per traveller to use this service. IATA assured that the app will use blockchain tech to refrain from storing any user data. The existing IATA Timatic system -that is currently used to verify documents- will be used for the travel pass as well. Alan Murray Hayden, the Head of Passenger and Security Protocols said that the aim of the project is to make air travel possible and comfortable once again. He also highlighted that the lobby has initiated a successful discussion with one government with regard to using the software and other governmental regulatory bodies are likely to soon follow suit.

Revival of Air Travel

Earlier this week, Qantas Airways already announced that a Covid-19 vaccine would be a prerequisite for all travellers using the airlines. Moreover, this is soon to become a necessity for most other global airlines. Travellers need to be inoculated and present proof of such inoculation prior to boarding international flights. This rule will soon become the new standard pre-boarding requirement around the world. Authorities around the world are trying to boost international travel by imposing mandatory testing protocols and reducing quarantine periods. These measures are especially in place for the upcoming holiday season.  As the first vaccines are set to be launched in the upcoming months, the global community now focuses upon developing digitally advanced mechanisms of monitor travellers’ covid credentials.