Air New Zealand is to become the latest airline to trial Iata’s Travel Pass app on flights to Australia.
The three-week trial will be open to crew and passengers on flights between Auckland and Sydney and will take place in April.
A number of airlines have begun trialling apps that can store data including vaccination details and test results. However, concerns have been raised about privacy and whether so-called vaccination passports could be discriminatory.
Air New Zealand said: “Customer privacy is at the heart of the design. There is no central database storing personal information – rather it is shared at the travellers’ discretion, in a safe and secure way.”
Jennifer Sepull, the airline’s chief digital officer, added: “Once borders reopen, travel is going to look very different, with customers’ health data needing to be verified at check-in.
“It’s essentially like having a digital health certificate that can be easily and securely shared with airlines. This will give customers peace of mind that they meet all travel requirements for the different countries around the world before they even get to the airport.
“Reassuring customers that travel is in fact safe is one of our priorities. By using the app, customers can have confidence that everyone onboard meets the same government health requirements they do.
“By having a place to store all your health credentials digitally in one place, it will not only speed up the check-in process but unlock the potential for contactless travel.”
Nick Careen, Iata’s senior vice-president, said: “The app has been developed with the highest levels of data privacy and security. Governments can be confident that passengers who are ‘OK to travel’ are in full compliance of Covid-19 travel requirements.”