IATA to Pilot Travel Pass by Year-End; Launch Scheduled for Q1 2021

IATA is in the final development phase of a digital health pass designed to support the safe reopening of borders.

Some governments are beginning to use testing as a means of limiting the risks of COVID19 importation without the need for quarantine. The IATA Travel Pass will help to manage and verify the secure flow of necessary testing or vaccine information among governments, airlines, laboratories and travelers.

IATA is calling for systematic COVID19 testing of all international travelers and the information flow infrastructure needed to enable this 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 digital certificates to passengers that will be recognized by governments, and; and

- Travelers 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.

“Today borders are double locked” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO. “Testing is the first key to enable international travel without quarantine measures. The second key is the global information infrastructure needed to securely manage, share and verify test data matched with traveler identities in compliance with border control requirements. That’s the job of IATA Travel Pass. We are bringing this to market in the coming months to also meet the needs of the various travel bubbles and public health corridors that are starting operation.”

The IATA Travel Pass incorporates four open sourced and interoperable modules which can be combined for an end-to-end solution:

Global Registry of Health Requirements: Enables passengers to find accurate information on travel, testing and eventually vaccine requirements for their journey.

Global Registry of Testing / Vaccination Centers: Enables passengers to find testing centers and labs at their departure location which meet the standards for testing and vaccination requirements of their destination.

Lab App: Enables authorized labs and test centers to securely share test and vaccination certificates with passengers.

Contactless Travel App: Enables passengers to (1) create a ‘digital passport’, (2) receive test and vaccination certificates and verify that they are sufficient for their itinerary, and (3) 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 travel experience.

IATA and International Airlines Group (IAG) have been working together in the development of this solution and will undertake a trial to demonstrate that this platform combined with COVID19 testing can reopen international travel and replace quarantine.

IATA’s Timatic is used by most airlines to manage compliance with passport and visa regulations and will be the base for the global registry and verification of health requirements. IATA’s One ID initiative was endorsed by a resolution at its 75th Annual General Meeting in 2019 to securely facilitate travel processes with a single identity token. It is the base for the IATA Contactless Travel App for identity verification that will also manage the test and vaccination certificates.

Nick Careen, IATA's Senior Vice President, Airport, Passenger, Cargo and Security, said, “Our main priority is to get people traveling again safely. In the immediate term that means giving governments confidence that systematic COVID-19 testing can work as a replacement for quarantine requirements. And that will eventually develop into a vaccine program. The IATA Travel Pass is a solution for both. And we have built it using a modular approach based on open source standards to facilitate interoperability. It can be used in combination with other providers or as a standalone end-to-end solution. The most important thing is that it is responsive to industry’s needs while enabling a competitive market.”

The first cross-border IATA Travel Pass pilot is scheduled for later this year and the ISO launch slated for Q1 2021 with Android expected to take off in Q2 2021.

The IATA .pdf about the Travel Pass is available free of charge here.

IATA Travel Pass - Exclusive Video Interview with Vinoop Goel

PODCAST

Editor's note: As the above video interview was conducted over the internet, I would like to apologise that the audio and visual quality are not up to the same HD/UHD quality that it normally would be. Hopefully it won't be too long until we are once again conducting exclusive video interviews in person, but for now we have to make do with what we have. Thank you.

See also: Future of Airline Distribution and NDC - Interview with Yanik Hoyles, IATA (November 2019).

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