Six airlines are planning wide implementation of the
International Air Transport Association's Travel Pass health passport tool, the
organisation announced.
In September, Emirates announced itself as the first carrier
undergoing a full global implementation of Travel Pass, which provides
information on travel requirements, access to Covid-19 testing centres and
digital documentation of test results and vaccination certificates. After tests
on select routes starting last April, Emirates will now have the tool available
across its full network this month.
On Tuesday, IATA announced that Etihad Airways, Qatar
Airways, Qantas and its low-cost subsidiary Jetstar Airways, Royal Jordanian
and Kuwait's Jazeera Airways also are planning to implement Travel Pass across
their networks in a "phased rollout”.
During the past 11 months, 76 airlines in total have been
testing the Travel Pass technology, and it is now ready for the operational
phase, IATA director general Willie Walsh said in a statement.
"The app has proven itself to be an effective tool to
manage the complex mess of travel health credentials that governments
require," Walsh said. "And, it's a great vote of confidence that some
of the world's best known airline brands will be making it available to their
customers over the coming months."
IATA Travel Pass is currently able to manage vaccine
certificates from 52 countries, representing about 56 per cent of the global
air travel market. By the end of November, IATA expects that will increase to
74 countries, representing 85 per cent of global air traffic.