Emirates has become the latest airline to carry out trials of the IATA Travel Pass, a digital health passport created by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Passengers flying from Dubai to Barcelona on EK 185 on April 15 were the first to trial the digital passport. The airline will continue to trial the pass on selected flights from Dubai to Barcelona, as well as from London Heathrow to Dubai, with plans to roll it out to include other routes “soon”.
Eligible passengers are invited to download the app and enrol for the pass before they travel. Emirates has partnered with select Prime Health Care labs in Dubai, while those travelling from the UK can get their test done at select Screen4 labs – the labs will securely send test results to passengers via the app.
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. The digital health verification app has been under development since last year, and over 20 airlines have signed up for trials in the coming weeks and months. To read more about the initiative, see:
Adel Al Redha, Emirates’ Chief Operating Officer said:
“The ability to process passengers’ COVID-19 relevant data for travel digitally will be the way forward. We are pleased to have been pioneers and partner with IATA in trialling this initiative in real time and soon will be launching other initiatives to further enhance our customer experience.”
For a look at the pros and cons of “vaccine passports”, and the different options being developed, see our recent features:
