In the recovery of COVID-19, health passports are being introduced as a safety net in stopping or reducing the chances of spreading COVID-19. Discover more about health passport and read our full list of FAQs to get your questions answered.
A health passport is basically digital proof to show that the passenger is tested negative for COVID-19 or has been vaccinated against COVID-19 to facilitate travel. The health passport may bring quarantine-free travel in the future.
A health passport is also called a travel pass or a vaccine passport. Many versions of health passports are being trailed as of February 2021.
The purpose of a health passport is to provide airlines and governments that a passenger satisfies all travel requirements of the country and that the tests and vaccines are recognised by governments and the World Health Organisation.
It eliminates complexity, information gap and inefficiency by having a standardised app. The main goal is to ensure safe travel in the future and reassure governments that travellers are travelling without COVID-19.
There are two versions of the health passport available for global airlines as of February 2021, these are IATA Travel Pass and VeriFly.
The IATA Travel Pass is launched by the International Air Transport Association, which is a trade association of global airlines. The main purpose of the Travel Pass is to store the verified COVID-19 tests or COVID-19 vaccine certificates. It acts as proof to immigration departs and airlines that the passenger is COVID-free during and after the pandemic.
VeriFly is an American version of the IATA Travel Pass which is designed by Daon. It allows customers to check whether they satisfy the travel requirements of their destinations flying to the U.S. It can also be used for flights from the U.S. to the country that the participating airlines originate.
Many global airlines are trailing various health passports currently with the aim to restart travel and boosts confidence in travel.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) Travel Pass already has 20 airlines that decided to trail including Air New Zealand, RwandAir, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Malaysia Airlines, Etihad Airways and Copa Airlines.
On inbound U.S. travel, VeriFLY is a great alternative. American Airlines is the launch airline for the travel pass, followed by British Airways, Iberia and Alaska Airlines.
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Health passports will become available in the second quarter of 2021. Airlines will start testing the application in April. As of February 2020, over 20 airlines have decided to trail the health passports but more airlines are still in talks with the developers of these apps.
As of February 2021, more than 20 airlines has decided to trail health passports with the aim to safely restart international air travel. Qatar Airways, Emirates, Singapore Airlines, RwandAir, American Airlines, British Airways and Air New Zealand is amongst the 20 airlines. There are more than 40 airlines that are still in talks with the app developers to trail health passports.
No, health passports are optional and airlines are still trailing the health passport initiative but it will make travelling simpler and more convenient during and after COVID-19.
