New Travel Pass For Ease Of Travel During and After Pandemic

IATA’s New Travel Pass App

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is the trade association for the world’s airlines, representing some 290 airlines or 82% of total air traffic. They are currently working on and about to release a new travel app called IATA Travel Pass for Travelers. It is due in app stores in March.

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The Travel Pass is designed to make travel during these uncertain times possible. They are looking to establish a process for the use of this digital documentation so that governments can reopen borders with confidence without imposing quarantines on incoming travelers.

Traditionally there have been visa and vaccination requirements in many countries. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic governments have imposed additional restrictions: quarantine measures, testing requirements and eventually vaccination requirements. IATA Travel Pass is a tool for travelers but communicates with governments, airlines, and test centers/vaccination providers to get verified information to those who need it in a safe and secure manner.

The main points of the Travel Pass are:

» Global registry of health requirements – to find accurate information on travel, testing and vaccine requirements for journeys

» Global registry of testing/vaccination centers – to identify testing centers and labs at departure location which meet the standards for testing and vaccination requirements of the destination

» Lab app – to locate authorized labs and test centers to securely share test and vaccination certificates

» Digital passport module – to enable passengers to create a ‘digital passport’, receive test and vaccination certificates and verify that they are sufficient for their itinerary, and share testing or vaccination certificates with airlines and authorities to facilitate travel. This app can also be used by travelers to manage travel documentation digitally and seamlessly throughout their journey, improving the travel experience.

» IATA Travel Pass will be free for passengers to download and use.

Considering there will be quite a bit of health and private information within the app, there is concern about access. Per IATA, The Travel Pass does not store any data centrally. It simply links entities that need verification with the test or vaccination data when travelers permit. No verification will go to an airline or a government without your authorization.

This type of apps, while might hit roadblocks initially in adaptations, would be helpful and essential in perpetuating travel. Especially, international travel. The requirements are changing daily for travel, so modernization of practices to keep up with these is necessary. An electronic process will better manage the volumes of data that are likely to be needed and it will help passengers to adapt to any changes more easily in government requirements.

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