INTERNATIONAL. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has called on governments to accelerate the development of global standards for vaccination and testing certification to help restart travel.
IATA Director General and CEO Alexandre de Juniac said: “We can see the light at the end of the tunnel as vaccination programmes roll out. Turning this vision into a safe and orderly restart will require careful planning and coordination by governments and industry.
“This will be challenging as the priority for the weeks and months ahead will be containing the spread of new variants. But even as the crisis deepens, it is important to prepare the way for a resumption of flights when the epidemiological situation permits.”
IATA stressed the importance of vaccination roll-outs, exemptions from travel restrictions for vaccinated individuals, more effective testing, crew health management protocols and bio-safety measures.
Key global standards that are being developed include:
- Vaccination certificates: The WHO is leading efforts to build the standards needed to digitally record vaccination information that will help re-establish international travel. The Smart Vaccination Certificate will be the digital successor to the long-established “yellow book” used to manage vaccinations such as yellow fever, said IATA.
- Global framework for testing: The OECD is laying the foundation for a global framework to help governments trust testing data based on mutual recognition of testing results. The urgency of such a framework was demonstrated by the recent suspension of flights between the UAE and Denmark over concerns about the UAE’s testing regime. “A trusted framework will ensure that travellers are not caught in the middle when governments do not recognise each other’s testing regimes. Standardising the appropriate testing certificates is also essential,” said IATA.
- Digital Travel Credential (DTC): ICAO has published standards to create a DTC from ePassports. Along with enabling contactless travel as recommended by ICAO-CART guidelines, the credentials can digitally matching travellers to their vaccination and testing certificates.
“As we have seen, unilateral government decisions are very effective in shutting down global mobility. Re-establishing the freedom to travel, however, can only be done with cooperation. Governments are already seeing how challenging that will be without global standards for vaccines or tests. This puts a spotlight on the urgency of the essential work being done by WHO, OECD and ICAO. IATA is participating in these initiatives and stands ready to help governments with implementation,” said de Juniac.
“Building the future” with IATA Travel Pass
IATA has introduced its Travel Pass as a key information tool in restarting travel. It aims to help governments, airlines and individual travellers manage vaccine or testing requirements with accurate information, secure identification and verified data.
The first pilot programme to test the app in a real travel situation began with Singapore Airlines in December. A growing list of airlines are confirming their intention to use IATA Travel Pass, including IAG, Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways.
“We believe that IATA Travel Pass will offer the best support to governments in managing vaccination and testing data to safely facilitate travel. But the success of any of the solutions being developed will depend on governments working with and trusting each other.
“Air transport built its reputation on safety by cooperating with governments to ensure universal implementation of transparent global standards. That’s a compelling model for how industry and governments can work together to re-connect the world using opportunities created testing and vaccination progress,” said de Juniac.
