Air New Zealand Is Trialling a Digital Health Passport to Make International Travel Safer and Easier
The trial will run on the airline's Auckland to Sydney route in April.
International travel is set to look very different in the age of COVID-19. In addition to mandatory face coverings, there have been murmurs of vaccine passports, baggage sanitisation, prepackaged meals and the removal of booze trolleys — Qantas sold off its fully stocked bar carts last year.
Air New Zealand has now revealed it will be trialling a digital passport to streamline the health verification process. The digital Travel Pass app developed by International Air Transport Association (IATA) was designed to give travellers peace of mind that they meet requirements for different countries around the world before they get to the airport.
Travellers will be able to create a digital health wallet linked to their e-passport. Once they have been tested and/or vaccinated for COVID-19, labs will send data to the individual's app. It then checks requirements for travel against the data and customers who meet those travel requirements will be given the green tick to travel.
Air New Zealand Chief Digital Officer Jennifer Sepull says the goal is to enable customers to manage their digital travel documentation throughout their travel experience. She adds that with travellers' health data needing to be verified at check-in, it's "essentially like having a digital health certificate that can be easily and securely shared with airlines."
"By having a place to store all your health credentials digitally in one place, it will not only speed up the check-in process but unlock the potential for contactless travel."
Air New Zealand is one of the first airlines in the world to offer its passengers a digital travel pass. The trial will run for three weeks on the airline's Auckland to Sydney route in April.
For more information about Air New Zealand's trial of the digital Travel Pass app, visit airnewzealand.co.nz.
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