British Airways trials IATA Travel Pass

British Airways has started trialling the IATA Travel Pass on flights from Heathrow to Geneva and Zurich.

The app checks that a passenger meets the entry requirements for their destination and notifies the passenger to let them know that they are ready to travel.

It can be downloaded onto a mobile device directly from the app store. Once downloaded, passengers create a secure account and will be presented with the entry requirements for their destination.

Passengers can then book a Covid-19 test with an approved provider and the results are automatically uploaded into the app by the laboratory.

What is IATA Travel Pass?

IATA Travel Pass is a mobile app that helps passengers to store and manage their verified certifications for COVID-19 tests and in future COVID-19 vaccinations.

This is clearly going to be the big one. IATA will make sure that this is the global app.

Other Travel Pass trials by British Airways

The new travel pass is added to two other digital options being tested by the airline.

British Airways started trialling VeriFLY in February on routes to the US, France, Ireland, Barbados, Bahamas and Canada, as well as all inbound international flights.

That continues to evolve as the airline works with testing suppliers to automatically upload results into the app and enable online check-in once documents are verified

The airline’s passengers to Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal can upload their negative Covid-19 test result and other documentation directly into ba.com for verification before travel.

Airlines trialling IATA Travel Pass

More than 30 airlines are trialling the IATA Travel Pass.

Here are the latest details from IATA.

Approved providers

According to BA, approved IATA travel pass test providers include Screen4, Eurofins, Medicspot and Unilabs. BA says others will be added to the BA list.

This leads to several questions that passengers are entitled to ask including – who approved these companies? IATA, BA, UK Government, UK NHS etc

N.B. Image credit: British Airways

Internet links

British Airways (BA)

IATA Travel Pass