IATA ready to launch its digital COVID Travel Pass soon

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) expects its digital COVID Travel Pass will be ready within weeks, Report informs, referring to BBC.

The pass is an app that verifies a passenger has had the Covid-19 tests or vaccines required to enter a country.

It also verifies they were administered by an approved authority.

The industry body sees the pass as essential for reopening air travel, as many countries still have strict restrictions or quarantines in place.

‘The key issue is one of confidence. Passengers need to be confident that the testing they’ve taken is accurate and will allow them to enter the country," said Vinoop Goel, IATA’s regional director of airports and external relations.

"And then governments need to have the confidence that the tests that the passengers claim to have is one which is accurate and meets their own conditions."

Singapore Airlines was the first airline to start trials of the travel pass in December.

Etihad, Emirates, Qatar Airways, Air New Zealand are among the other airlines currently conducting trials, and IATA says it is discussing the pass with most airlines throughout the Asia Pacific region.