Terminal operations
The app, which uses the Timatic-powered global registry of health requirements, allows passengers to tap into information on relevant testing and vaccine requirements for their journey. It’s been designed by the industry for the industry, says Careen, with an airline advisory group providing input. “IATA is not creating its app for profit. It will recover the costs of development only.” He says feedback from airlines has been positive. Singapore Airlines rolled out a full pilot in March 2021. The airline says the app will consolidate health credentials, allowing a faster and more seamless check-in process. IAG airlines, Qatar Airways, Emirates and Etihad Airways are among those lined up for subsequent testing.
A global standard Chris Youlten, Etihad’s executive director, operations strategy, says the focus on Covid-19 testing during the pandemic has helped facilitate a safer return to travel – and that focus would now move to vaccination data. He agrees with Careen that global standards are necessary.
“Like PCR testing, vaccination needs to be standardised if it’s a barrier to entry for travel,” he says. “While different vaccines will be available for the foreseeable future, a standard, verifiable record of vaccination will be the best method of managing access to aviation. Airlines need the support of governments globally and international organisations such as WHO to achieve this.” Youlten says the airline is working on the assumption that it may be necessary to aggregate data from multiple sources if global standards or a single internationally adopted app are not achieved. He says hard copy vaccination certificates and testing results would still be accepted at check-in if passengers did not have access to – or chose not to use – a digital passport.
“We believe that the risk of on-board transmissions is very low to begin with, and testing and vaccinations add another level of security.”
Nick Careen, IATA
While the airline supports vaccination to control and limit the spread of the virus, Youlten says Etihad has no plans to make vaccinations compulsory. It will instead continue to align its requirements with those of destination countries. He agrees with Hunter that it will take more than digital passports to end the Covid-19 nightmare and get people flying. He says vaccination certificates would need to be used in conjunction with other tools to build confidence in air travel. He cites the airline’s distribution of PCR tests, on-board “wellness
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ambassadors”, and its provision of passenger mask and hand sanitiser kits as the types of initiatives that will need to continue. Behind the scenes, airlines will need to maintain a focus on elevated cleaning standards. Careen says air travel remains safe. “We believe that the risk of on-board transmissions is very low to begin with, and testing and vaccinations add another level of security,” he says. However, he says IATA does not support compulsory vaccinations certificates for entry. “As a general principle, travellers to a country should not be subject to stricter conditions than the measures applying for residents,” he says. There were not only ethical concerns with mandating vaccinations, but “such a policy would also risk discriminating against those markets where vaccines may take longer to become widely available”. Instead, IATA supports moves to exempt vaccinated flyers from quarantine – a move already flagged by Greece, Poland, Latvia, Lebanon, the Seychelles and others. Careen suggests apps that track vaccination and testing data could help manage exemptions and get borders open. “IATA does not expect that there will be significant vaccination levels in most countries until the end of 2021 at the earliest,” he says. “The airline industry remains hanging by a thread and in need of continued government support to survive. Potentially another year of delay would be very damaging – not only for the industry, but for the global economy as well.”
Necessity breeds innovation While digital passports will not be a magic bullet, Hunter agrees they could prove useful in aiding the recovery. They could enable airlines to track immunisation and infection among passengers and flight crew, thereby safeguarding schedules and the health of staff. Vaccination passports, therefore, may become more of an economic or business model than a national healthcare focus.
For digital passports to have any lasting impact, however, airlines and airports will need to continue to play an active role in not just monitoring vaccination and testing data, but in also facilitating it. During the trial phase of the IATA Travel Pass, Singapore Airlines passengers were able to use the app to book Covid-19 tests at one of seven local labs, the results of which were then fed back into the app. It’s envisaged vaccination data will be added in a similar way. More than 100 European airports, meanwhile, now offer Covid-19 testing. Medical laboratories at airports would have been unthinkable 18 months ago, but so too were hand sanitisers, universal face masks and gate after gate of inactivity. The aviation sector is having to be innovative to weather this storm. Airlines and airports are using every item in their digital toolboxes on the long haul not just to recovery, but to ensure their very survival. ●
Future Airport /
www.futureairport.com
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