By Juan Pedro Sanchez Zamudio
Major Latin American Airlines Begin IATA Travel Pass Tests
To re-open borders without quarantine and restart aviation national governments need to be confident that they are effectively mitigating the risk of importing COVID-19. This means having accurate information on passengers’ COVID-19 health status.
Informing passengers on what tests, vaccines and other measures they require prior to traveling, details on where they can get tested, and giving them the ability to share their tests and vaccination results in a verifiable, safe and privacy-protecting manner is the key to giving governments the confidence to open borders.
To address this challenge IATA has launched IATA Travel Pass.
The implementation of the IATA Travel Pass joins the efforts of Latin American carriers to improve their Health and Hygiene Protocols, which seeks to guarantee a reliable travel experience under the highest safety standards.
The LATAM Airlines Group, through its subsidiaries in Chile and Peru, together with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) have come together to pilot the IATA Travel Pass digital application, allowing passengers to organize and manage travel requirements complying with what is required by the authorities on international flights in a more efficient and expeditious manner.
In a press release, the carrier stated that IATA Travel Pass will work based on the biometric information of the passenger’s passport, the results of laboratories in agreement and the joint information of the governments.
The pilot phase, voluntary for the passenger, is expected to take place between June 14 and July 2 on the following routes: Lima – Miami, Lima – Santiago de Chile, Santiago de Chile – Lima and Santiago de Chile – Miami.
As of June 21, Aeroméxico hand in hand with the Association International Air Transport (IATA), will implement an IATA pilot test Travel Pass, a digital application that will be available on routes from Mexico City to Chicago and Madrid.
With its recent increase in frequencies, the airline has an offer of more than 4,400 weekly seats to Chicago and 4,900 to Madrid.
According to a press release published by the Mexican carrier, the IATA Travel Pass will simplify the customer experience, allowing the passenger to store, manage as well as validate the documentation required by different countries to travel, such as COVID-19 tests and/or vaccination certificates.
Eligible customers on the aforementioned routes will be invited to participate in this pilot test of Aeroméxico, which through an email, will be notified to be part of the experience by following a few simple steps:
- Download IATA Travel Pass from Apple Store or Google Play.
- Register travel and health documents and your next flights.
- Check-in at the SkyPriority counters.
- At the airport, show the IATA Travel Pass confirmation message with the legend “OK to travel”.
The three things Juan Pedro loves most about aviation are aircraft, airports, and traveling thousands of miles in just a few hours. What he enjoys the most about aviation is that it is easier and cheaper to travel around the world and this gives you the opportunity to visit places you thought were too far away. He has traveled to different destinations in North, Central, South America and Asia. Born, raised and still living in Perú, Juan is a lawyer, soccer lover, foodie, passionate traveler, dog lover, millennial and curious by nature.
