Cyprus Mail 1 April 2021 - by Andrew Rosenbaum
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| IATA Travel Pass should make travelling easier. |
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.
There is no date set for the launch of the Android version, but the organisation said in a statement that it is preparing it as soon as possible.
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.
Singapore Airlines was first to trial the IATA Travel Pass, with the first passenger landing at Heathrow on March 18, and able to complete formalities rapidly. Since then 26 other major airlines have put the pass on trial.
IATA is concerned about both verifying health status and providing accurate information about health issues, including ensuring that Covid-19-related information is accurate.
“Informing passengers on what tests, vaccines and other measures they require prior to travel, details on where they can get tested and giving them the ability to share their tests and vaccination results in a verifiable, safe and privacy-protecting manner is the key to giving governments the confidence to open borders. To address this challenge IATA is working on launching the IATA Travel Pass, a digital platform for passengers.”
The information flow infrastructure that is needed for systematic testing must support:
- Governments with the means to verify the authenticity of tests and the identity of those presenting the test certificates.
- Airlines with the ability to provide accurate information to their passengers on test requirements and verify that a passenger meets the requirements for travel.
- Laboratories with the means to issue certificates to passengers that will be recognized by governments, and
- Travellers with accurate information on test requirements, where they can get tested or vaccinated, and the means to securely convey test information to airlines and border authorities.
The IATA Travel Pass provides full and accurate information on all these issues, the statement said.
