Emirates becomes the first airline to implement IATA Travel Pass across six continents

Emirates has became the first airline to implement International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) Travel Pass solution on six continents as it rolls out this digital health pass to passengers to all its destinations.

Emirates first started trialling the IATA Travel Pass in April on flights to select destinations from Dubai. Then in June, the Dubai-based airline expanded the IATA Travel Pass trials to 12 routes and now, it has signed a contract with IATA to implement the solution across its network.

The IATA Travel Pass App is presently available to Emirates passengers travelling from 50 cities and the roll-out across all 120+ Emirates destinations is expected to be completed by October 2021.

Adel Al Redha, Chief Operating Officer, Emirates, said:

Emirates continues to invest in technology and solutions, like IATA Travel Pass, so that we can deliver smooth journeys and contactless experiences for our customers while enabling our airport teams to handle document checks efficiently and in compliance with regulatory requirements. We are pleased to partner with IATA on the IATA Travel Pass solution from early pilot trials to full implementation and we will continue to work closely with IATA on enhancements to facilitate even more secure and smoother journeys for travellers.

The IATA Travel Pass enables passengers to find accurate information on travel, testing, and vaccine requirements for their journey. It also enables passengers to access certified COVID-19 testing centres at their departure location which meet the requirements of their destination. Additionally, the app allows passengers to manage their travel documentation digitally in one place. From receiving test results and vaccination certificates directly from authorised labs and test centres, to conveniently and securely sharing these documents with authorities and airlines to facilitate travel, IATA Travel Pass App has it all.

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Nick Careen, Senior Vice President Operations, Safety and Security, IATA, said:

Emirates’ implementation of IATA Travel Pass across its global network cements its role as a key tool in managing the complex myriad of health credentials required for travel. By providing passengers with a one-stop-shop to demystify, manage and process these credentials through a secure automated process, they can arrive at the airport ready-to-fly using automated processes. This will avoid queuing and congestion for document checks – to the benefit of travelers, airlines, airports and governments.

At present, travellers can access over 1,500 COVID-19 test labs via the IATA Travel Pass app, and IATA states that this number continues to grow. EU and UK citizens can register their vaccine certificate on the app, and IATA says that work is underway to enable a broader range of verified digital travel documents to linked to, or uploaded to the app.

Future enhancements include enabling passengers to share their digital documents for travel before they reach the airport, such as COVID vaccination certificates and test results, and these will be securely and automatically reflected in Emirates’ check-in systems.

Meanwhile, Emirates recently launched a new account-based payment system called ‘Emirates Pay’. The airline has also reopened on its dedicated First Class lounge at Dubai International Airport and has launched an all-new airport service at Dubai International Airport to assist passengers more better. The carrier has launched flights to Miami, Florida making it the airline’s 12th destination in the United States. The airline has ramped up its operations across its network in response to pent-up demand. Emirates has resumed flights to Glasgow and has added a second Airbus A380 service to New York. Emirates Skywards has announced the launch of Skywards+ to offer its members access to exclusive rewards. Emirates, in the past month, has signed codeshare and interline agreements with two airlines. The airline has expanded partnership with South Africa’s Airlink, has announced an interline partnership with Mexico’s Aeromar, has signed a interline agreement with Cemair and has announced codeshare with Brazil’s Azul. Emirates will increase flights to Dublin to Daily in October 2021 and has revealed special A380 and B777 liveries to mark the UAE’s 50th anniversary. The carrier will resume flying to Newcastle in October. Emirates will take delivery of its final 3 Airbus A380s in November 2021 and will deploy Airbus A380 on flights to Johannesburg from October 2021. The airline will also resume flights to Saudi Arabia and St. Petersburg and operate A380 on flights to Istanbul for the first time. Emirates has announced that it will ramp up flights to the United States in October in response to strong travel demand.

Featured image by Emirates

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