IATA travel pass: here's how we'll fly from March

The Coronavirus pandemic has drastically changed our habits: masks, social distancing, skyrocketing e-commerce market--and the travel? A new proposal is coming: the IATA Travel Pass.

For us lovers of travel 2020 was not a very happy year. Flights canceled, cruises stopped at ports, planes grounded, travel between nations banned, and a whole series of inconveniences that have prevented us from fully experiencing our passion.

In addition, the tourism, and consequently that of commercial aviation, is the one that perhaps most of all has resent Of this health-economic crisis.

Here it is that IATA, or the International Air Transport Association, which represents approx. 290 airlines scattered around the globe, is pursuing an initiative that could reshuffle the deck, namely the IATA Travel Passport.

IATA Travel Passport, what is it all about?

Currently, there are many countries that have imposed some restrictions for both inbound and outbound travelers, and there is never any certainty of their duration, there is always the risk of a nation closing its borders overnight.

A useful tool to understand what the restrictions are between nations is the one put in place by SkyScanner, with its interactive travel map.

For long-term solutions, on the other hand, IATA, together with some partnerships, is proposing a real digital health passport, which could facilitate the shifts Of the individuals who have recently taken a swab or who have undergone the vaccine, putting in place a cross-check between various available data.

How does the Travel Passport work?

Basically, it is a'app for smartphones that generates a kind of digital passport, in which the following are stored information which are used to determine whether the traveler possesses the requirements necessary to travel safely.

This application, which reminds us of the much-discussed Immuni app, will report whether the passenger has recently made a swab And will demonstrate the outcome negative, It will also certify whether he has undergone the vaccine versus Covid-19.

The purpose of this Travel Passport proposed by IATA is to facilitate the task of monitoring by the airlines and the relevant bodies in such a way as to ensure that the security for other travelers and for the passenger himself, in relation to fellow passengers.

The information will be shared with local authorities or control officers by scanning a QR Code.

British Airways is already experimenting, Emirates and Ethiad ready

The app will be available from March 2021 for all users and will be free for passengers, while airlines will pay a small Fee per passenger to IATA itself.

British Airways has already rolled out the experimentation of the app on some domestic flights; Singapore Airlines is already using the new service for some flights from its base in Singapore to Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur.

Ethiad Airways has indicated that it is ready for experimentation for some flights departing from Abu Dhabi, while Emirates said that its customers will be able, starting in April, to share before departure the results Of the pads.

But what about Privacy?

A sore point especially in Italy, where the Immuni app has raised quite a bit of controversy, so Alan Murray Hayden, the director of the security of IATA passengers and airports, he specified:

The Travel Pass is based on a technology blockchain and analysis centers will then be able to securely share passenger data with Iata's app. In addition, the app will not retain unencrypted any customer data, and passenger identity management will be through Iata One ID technology, i.e., the unique digital identity developed by the association in past years.

IATA, moreover, clarified that the Travel Pass is based on. 4 steps key:

• A registry of requirements minimums for access
• A registry with a list of centers test or of vaccines
• A safe mode of loading Of certificates and sensitive data
• A identity personal digital

Unfortunately, currently the situation is still complicated and no one knows when and how we will return to the normality, much less when you can travel carefree again without worrying about health passports or pre-departure swabs.

So it will be necessary to live with this darn virus for a while longer by looking, as IATA has done, for some solutions temporary ones that can mitigate risks, improve tracking, and consequently allow partial reopening of the boundaries.

• covid tested