It's been awhile since we last travelled abroad, and we definitely miss the excitement from boarding a flight to our favourite travel destination. While Malaysia is continuing their battle against COVID-19, the international aviation industry sees a glimmer of hope through the implementation of IATA Travel Pass, a COVID-19 travel pass app that may be the future of travel as we know it.
In June 2021, it was announced that Malindo Air is among the world's first airlines to trial the IATA (International Air Transport Association) Travel Pass, a secure mobile app that allows travellers to store and manage verified certifications required for their future travels including COVID-19 tests and vaccinations. The news comes after Malaysia Airlines became the first airline in Malaysia to trial the IATA Travel Pass in April 2021.
In March 2021, Singapore Airlines was the world's first airline to trial the IATA Travel Pass. Other global airlines that are trialing the app include Qatar Airways, Emirates, Etihad, Air New Zealand, Qantas, and Japan Airlines.
CEO of Malindo Air, Capt Mushafiz Bin Mustafa Bakri said, “We are very pleased to partner with IATA and become one of the region’s pioneers in trialing this long-awaited initiative in real time. The ability to process passengers’ COVID-19 relevant data for travel digitally will be the way forward. We will support the introduction of other initiatives to further enhance customer experience.”
Additionally, the IATA Travel Pass aims to boost travel confidence for post-pandemic travel and allows travellers to conveniently share their digital health certificates when travelling abroad.
“We are proud to partner with Malindo Air to trial IATA Travel Pass and demonstrate that digital health apps can securely, conveniently and efficiently help manage passenger travel health credentials. This is a vote of confidence and credibility for IATA Travel Pass and a positive step forward towards restarting international aviation. But for the tool to be as effective as possible we also need support from governments on the acceptance of Travel Pass at the borders,” said Nick Careen, IATA’s Senior Vice President Airport, Passenger, Cargo, Security.
It'll take some time before we can travel abroad again. Let's keep our hopes high and inspire our future getaways with these recommended reads below.