UAE’s flag carrier airline, Emirates has commenced trials of the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) COVID-19 ‘digital passport’, an app developed to help passengers to manage their travel easily and securely in line with any government requirements for testing or vaccine information.
The digital passport was trialed by passengers traveling from Dubai to Barcelona on EK 185 to verify and share their pre-travel COVID-19 test status with Emirates. The trials will make travel more convenient, enabling travelers to manage COVID-19-related documentation digitally throughout their journey. In the future, they will also be able to share vaccination certificates with authorities and airlines to facilitate ahead of their trip.
Adel Al Redha COO – Emirates
“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 trialing this initiative in real-time and soon will be launching other initiatives to further enhance our customer experience.”
The trials of the digital passport are being done on a selected Emirates flights from Dubai to Barcelona and London, Heathrow to Dubai, and will soon be expanded to other routes. Eligible passengers are being invited to download the app and enroll in the digital travel pass ahead of their travels.
In Dubai, Emirates has authorized some select Prime Health Care labs to securely send test results to passengers through the mobile app and those traveling from the UK can get their test done at Screen4 labs.
IATA Travel Pass app
The IATA Travel Pass app will have an integrated registry of travel requirements to enable passengers to find reliable information on travel and entry requirements for all destinations regardless of their itinerary.
Eventually, it will also include a registry of labs, making it easier for passengers to find testing centers and labs at their departure location which meet the standards for COVID-19 testing and vaccination requirements of their destination. The global registry, managed by IATA, will enable the secure flow of necessary information.
