With the global pandemic adding complications and safety concerns to air travel, flying isn’t exactly the easiest endeavour one can undertake. That’s why several companies and agencies are working on a solution that can ensure safe travels to all, from airlines to governments to the travelers themselves. One of these solutions is scheduled to be ready very soon, and it’s been prepared by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

The CDC recommends travellers get three COVID-19 tests

The IATA is working on its Travel Pass, a sort of global health passport that could allow people to start flying around the world again while also ensuring that all health and safety regulations are being observed. “To re-open borders without quarantine and restart aviation, governments need to be confident that they are effectively mitigating the risk of importing COVID-19,” according to an IATA press release. “This means having accurate information on passengers’ COVID-19 health status”.

A picture of a family with three kids in the airport, all of them wearing face masks
IATA has already assured that the app will offer maximum privacy and protection of travelers' data, who will be the only ones with the right to share them or delete them © FamVeld / Getty Images

That’s exactly what the Travel Pass aims to do – operating out of an app, it will be a way to facilitate the flow of information between travelers, governments, airlines and laboratories. Travellers can check the anti-COVID regulations of the country they’re flying to and see where the closest lab they can get tested at is; the laboratories will then directly upload their results onto the app so that it’s reliable and up-to-date. Once it’s time to actually fly out, travelers can show their results on the app to airline personnel and border patrol officers, so that they try to ensure that there will be no spreading of the virus on the plane or in the destination country.

A passenger's hand holding passport and ticket
It will also be possible to use the app as storage for digital travel documents so that airport check-ins are as easy and as contactless as possible © Lina Moiseienko / EyeEm / Getty Images

The app is expected to start testing at the end of 2020 and then be released for both iOS and Android in 2021. You can also check out more additional information on IATA’s official website here.

You might also like:

The news of COVID-19 vaccine is causing a spike in travel searches
This is the first cruise ship to have its own COVID-19 testing lab

Explore related stories

Cize, France - July 9, 2015: French high speed train TGV operated by SNCF, national rail operator on Cize-Bolozon viaduct bridge in Ain, Rhone-Alpes region in France. This train was developed during the 1970s by GEC-Alsthom and SNCF. A TGV test train set the record for the fastest wheeled train, reaching 574.8 km/h (357.2 mph) on 3 April 2007. Viaduct of Cize-Bolozon in summer season in Bugey along Ain river. This viaduct is a combination rail and vehicular viaduct crossing the Ain gorge. An original span built in the same location in 1875 was destroyed in World War II. Reconstructed as an urgent post-war project due to its position on a main line to Paris, the new viaduct reopened in May 1950. It carries road and rail traffic at different levels.
481529752
Brand-name, European Culture, Travel, People Traveling, Tourism, High Speed Train, Locomotive, Elevated Road, High Speed, Arch Bridge, Railway Bridge, Elevated Railway Track, Viaduct, Railroad Crossing, Stone Material, Symmetry, Crossing, Scenics, Arch, Bullet Train, Majestic, Journey, Blue, Ancient, Old, Pattern, French Culture, Architecture, Transportation, Nature, Rural Scene, Panoramic, Ain, Rhone-Alpes, France, Europe, Tree, Summer, Mountain, Hill, Landscape, Sky, River, Water, Railroad Track, Bridge - Man Made Structure, Monument, Train, Mode of Transport, Stone Bridge, SNCF, TGV, Alstom, Bugey

Sustainable Travel

How to get around France: from cycling to traversing by train

May 18, 2024 • 7 min read