IATA Travel Pass now has its first state-issued vaccine certificates integrated on the app. Photo Credit: IATA
Qatar Airways has become the first airline to trial Covid-19 vaccine authentication via the IATA Travel Pass digital passport, as International Air Transport Association (IATA) works with more states to integrate vaccine credentials into the mobile app.
First vaccine certs on the app
The trial will be rolled out in phases from July, beginning initially with Qatar Airways' cabin crew returning to Doha travelling from Kuwait, London, Los Angeles, New York, Paris and Sydney.
The announcement follows a decision by the Qatari government requiring all spectators at the 2022 World Cup to have received Covid-19 vaccines.
In Qatar Airways' trial of the IATA Travel Pass vaccine verification, cabin crew will be able to upload their Qatar issued Covid-19 vaccination credentials along with their Covid-19 test results to the IATA Travel Pass app and verify they are eligible to travel. On arrival in Doha, crew will then share their vaccination certificate and proceed through immigration at the airport.
The Qatari government is the first to integrate vaccination credentials onto the IATA Travel Pass app, making it possible for Qatar Airways to trial the new feature.
IATA is now in talks with other states to do the same, according to Albert Tjoeng, IATA's Head of Corporate Communications, potentially allowing more airlines to verify passengers' vaccine status using the app.
Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General, commented in a statement: “Certificates of Covid-19 vaccination or testing status will be key to restoring people’s freedom to travel. Qatar Airways and the Qatari Government are showing leadership by becoming the first to trial the verification of passengers’ vaccine credentials through IATA Travel Pass."
Digital passport stuck in trial phase
Walsh had announced in early June that the IATA Travel Pass would be made available to the general public in two weeks.
At press time, the app continues to be "by-invite only", available to passengers of the participating airlines and routes, confirmed Tjoeng. There is no indication on when the app can be expected to go live.
What it would take to move the app beyond the trial stage is fixing teething issues.
Reviews of the mobile app reveal issues with activation and verification. Trialling users have reported experiencing difficulties with the app's automated face-to-passport matching for verification purposes, as well as with registration using the airline activation code.
"Trials and pilots are conducted to help identify any issues and improvement opportunities and it was not unexpected that we encountered teething issues. The important thing is to fix the issues that were identified during the trials," Tjoeng told M&C Asia.
Pilot initiative scales up
From a handful of airlines in the early days of rollout, the trial group has quickly grown to around 70 airlines today.
Among the latest airlines to join the pilot initiative are Vietnam's VietJet and Bamboo Airways, and Malaysia's Malindo Air.
At the same time, some of the participating airlines have also been expanding the trial to more routes in their network.
Emirates, for example, announced recently that it will expand the trial to 10 routes between Dubai and the following cities: London, Barcelona, Madrid, Istanbul, New York JFK, Moscow, Frankfurt, Charles De Gaulle, and Amsterdam.
In May, Malaysia Airlines stated it was expanding the IATA Travel Pass trial (from the Kuala-Lumpur-London route) to include passengers flying from Kuala Lumpur to Tokyo-Narita and Melbourne.
"Trials by Qatar Airways and some 70 other airlines have demonstrated that IATA Travel Pass can efficiently manage test results. This important new trial focusing on vaccination status will build even more confidence in IATA Travel Pass as a complete solution for travellers, governments and airlines," Walsh said.