The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has enhanced its Travel Pass digital passport app, allowing EU and UK digital Covid vaccinations certificates to be uploaded to the pass.

The service is available to travellers holding either an EU Digital Covid Certificate (DCC) or UK NHS Covid Pass

IATA said that the certificates can then be shared with airlines and border control authorities, “who can have the assurance that the certificate presented to them is genuine and belongs to the person presenting it”.

Nick Careen, IATA’s senior vice president for operations safety and security, said that with Covid-19 vaccination certificates becoming a widespread requirement for international travel, the new service was “an important step forward, providing convenience for travellers, authenticity for governments and efficiency for airlines”.

At the same time IATA called on the World Health Organisation to revisit its work to develop a global digital vaccine standard, following the rollout of the EU DCC in recent months.

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“The absence of a global standard makes it much harder for airlines, border authorities and governments to recognize and verify a traveller’s digital vaccination certificate,” said Careen.

“The industry is working around this by developing solutions that can recognize and verify certificates from individual countries. But this is a slow process that is hampering the restart of international travel.

“As more states roll out their vaccination programmes, many are urgently looking to implement technical solutions to provide vaccine certification for their citizens when they travel.

“In the absence of a WHO standard, IATA urges them to look closely at the EU DCC as a proven solution that meets WHO guidance and can help to reconnect the world.”

For a look at the pros and cons of “vaccine passports”, and the different options being developed, see our recent features:

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