Singapore Airlines was the first to commence a trial of the IATA Travel Pass in late 2020. Since then, Air New Zealand, Copa Airlines, Emirates, Etihad Airways, IAG, Malaysia Airlines, Qatar Airways, Rwanda Air and Qantas have all become part of the initiative, and IATA is in talks with all the other airlines. But what is the IATA Travel Pass and what does it mean for travellers, airlines and the global travel industry?
In this exclusive video interview with IATA's Regional Director Airports and External Relations - Asia Pacific, Vinoop Goel, Steven Howard of TravelNewsAsia.com asks about Timatic, why it is so important for the airline industry, what it does, and what role it plays in the Travel Pass which IATA is currently developing and testing with different airlines around the world.
Vinoop explains what the IATA Travel Pass is all about, how the launch, currently scheduled for end-March 2021, will work, and why it has been created in the first place.
We discuss the IATA Travel Pass' security features, whether a traveller needs to be connected to a mobile network or an airport's WiFi for it to work, and what happens if someone does not have a smartphone.
Vinoop explains the different modules within the IATA Travel Pass and tells us more about the Contactless Travel App which is designed to become a digital passport, or ID, that would allow a true contactless travel experience.
With so many hotels and airline tickets being booked online, Steven asks whether IATA is working with any OTAs on the project, and, as one of the main reasons to develop the IATA Travel Pass has been to stop the use of fake COVID19 test / vaccine certificates, where does IATA draw the line and end the Travel Pass' functionality?
Or, will the IATA Travel Pass eventually be used by governments around the world to enable track and trace, and/or for hotels, restaurants, pubs, theatres, land transportation companies and the like to be able to check whether a person has been tested/vaccinated as well. All that and much, much more in the video interview.
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