The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has announced that the EU Digital COVID Certificate (DCC) and U.K. National Health Service (NHS) COVID Pass can now be uploaded into the IATA Travel Pass as verified proof of vaccination for travel.
Travelers holding an EU DCC or U.K. NHS COVID Pass can now access accurate COVID-19 travel information for their journey, create an electronic version of their passport and import their vaccination certificate in one place. This information can be shared with airlines and border control authorities who can have the assurance that the certificate presented to them is genuine and belongs to the person presenting it.
“COVID-19 vaccination certificates are becoming a widespread requirement for international travel. Handling the European and U.K. certificates through IATA Travel Pass is an important step forward, providing convenience for travelers, authenticity for governments and efficiency for airlines,” said Nick Careen, IATA’s Senior Vice President for Operations Safety and Security.
IATA is also urging the World Health Organization (WHO) to revisit its work to develop a global digital vaccine standard.
“The absence of a global standard makes it much harder for airlines, border authorities and governments to recognize and verify a traveler’s digital vaccination certificate. The industry is working around this by developing solutions that can recognize and verify certificates from individual countries. But this is a slow process that is hampering the restart of international travel.
“As more states roll out their vaccination programs, many are urgently looking to implement technical solutions to provide vaccine certification for their citizens when they travel. In the absence of a WHO standard, IATA urges them to look closely at the EU DCC as a proven solution that meets WHO guidance and can help to reconnect the world,” said Careen.
IATA has also announced recently that Saudi Arabia will accept the IATA Travel Pass to confirm pre-departure COVID-19 test results for departing and arriving passengers starting September 30, 2021. Eventually this acceptance will be expanded to vaccine certification.
Travelers to/from Saudi Arabia will have the choice of using either the IATA Travel Pass or Tawakkalna, the country’s national health app, owned and developed by the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA).
