Emirates is now offering the IATA Travel Pass to customers flying to ten cities, following its pilot of the digital health passport in April.
This will apply to customers flying between Dubai and London, Barcelona, Madrid, Istanbul, New York JFK, Moscow, Frankfurt, Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam. Passengers on these flights will receive a text and email with the activation code and instructions on downloading the app.
Plus, the airline has confirmed that it will roll-out the technological solution on all routes across its global network “in the coming weeks”.
The carrier has also partnered with Alhosn, the UAE app for Covid-19 related contact tracing and health documentation, to provide “smoother journeys”. From July, the Alhosn app will be integrated with the airline’s check-in systems, and passengers will be able to quickly retrieve Covid-19 medical records and proof of PCR and antigen tests.
Customers will have to opt in to allow access, and the airline has stated that information related to medical records will be discarded from their systems “once check-in formalities are completed”.
This builds on Emirates’ existing integration with the Dubai Health Authority:
Emirates begins digital verification of Covid-19 medical records
Emirates first trialled the IATA Travel Pass app for passengers flying from Dubai to Barcelona in April, and continued trialling it on selected flights from Dubai to Barcelona, as well as from London Heathrow to Dubai.
Adel Al Redha, Emirates’ Chief Operating Officer, said:
“Over the past months, we have really accelerated our biometric, contactless and digital travel verification projects to provide our customers with even greater convenience and assurance when they fly with Emirates. From our biometrics path at Dubai International (DXB) to initiatives like the IATA Travel Pass and integrations with the health authority databases, these projects deliver multiple benefits from better customer experiences to the reduced use of paper, and improved efficiency and reliability in travel document checks.
“We are grateful for the support from the authorities and our industry partners in the successful deployment of these projects which strengthen Emirates and Dubai’s world-leading aviation capabilities.”
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:
Last month, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) warned of “potential airport chaos” and “severe” impacts if governments do not digitalise travel health credentials.
For a look at the pros and cons of “vaccine passports”, and the different options being developed, see our recent features:
