The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has announced that its digital Travel Pass will launch on the Apple platform from mid-April, according to Reuters.
Reuters states that IATA Regional Vice President for Africa and the Middle East Kamil Alawadhi announced that the Travel Pass will launch on the Apple platform around April 15, and will then be rolled out to the Android platform.
The digital health verification app has been under development since last year, with the launch initially slated for the first quarter of this year.
The IATA Travel Pass app enables passengers to receive Covid-19 test results and verify they are eligible to undertake their journey through an ‘OK to Travel’ status – to understand more about the initiative, see the video below:
The website also quoted Alawadhi as saying that “a huge amount of airlines have requested to be on board”.
Indeed, several carriers have signed up for trials in the coming weeks and months, including Air Baltic, Air New Zealand, All Nippon Airways, Hong Kong Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Rwandair, and Virgin Atlantic.
Three of the Gulf’s largest airlines are also set to conduct trials, and BA’s parent company IAG has been working with IATA on the development of the scheme.
Meanwhile, Singapore Airlines recently carried out the first successful trial of the app on an international flight from Singapore to London.
For a look at the pros and cons of “vaccine passports”, and the different options being developed, see our recent features:
