Hong Kong Airlines is the latest carrier to trial a digital health passport as part of the carrier’s ongoing contributions towards the safe reopening of borders and international travel. 

Developed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the Travel Pass will provide travellers with easy access to Covid-19 entry requirements for their destination and accredited testing centres at their point of departure. The app also enables passengers to link their Covid-19 test results to a digital version of their passport created through the app.

Under this trial, Hong Kong Airlines will work closely with IATA to test its Lab App, a key module in Travel Pass. Passengers on a selected route will be invited to participate by first downloading the app and creating a digital profile before selecting a participating medical service provider for testing. A secure, encrypted channel will then enable the registered laboratory to verify the passenger’s identity and directly send the outcome of the Covid-19 test, or proof of vaccination to the traveller’s mobile device. This will then be checked against IATA’s global registry of Covid-19 health requirements, a system used by the majority of airlines and airports globally, to ensure regulatory requirements are complied with before the passenger receives approval to travel.

“Hong Kong Airlines has been working hard to make travel safe for our customers,” says Hong Kong Airlines Director of Service Delivery Chris Birt. “We welcome the opportunity to contribute our inputs into the development of Travel Pass and will continue to support IATA’s efforts in leading the recovery of international travel. Given the constantly changing environment of the current pandemic and frequent modification of border restrictions by governments, Travel Pass is undoubtedly the best go-to app for passengers to access the most updated travel information, ensure they comply with the latest entry requirements and allow them to manage their digital health documents in a safe and secure way.”

Fellow Hong Kong-based airline Cathay Pacific also begun trailing a digital passport programme earlier this month. The airline has just completed its latest trial of the technology, designed to validate and refine the departure processes on its flight CX880 from Hong Kong to Los Angeles. Cathay Pacific pilots and cabin crew volunteered for the trial, using the CommonPass app and pre-departure rapid PCR test records to create a digital pass that included their name, travel document number, and confirmation that their negative Covid-19 PCR test result was within the prescribed timeframe and conducted at accredited labs, as required by authorities. Cathay Pacific is also a member of the IATA Travel Pass Advisory Group.

Adoption of digital travel passes will make the pre-departure journey more seamless and stress-free for passengers in the post-Covid world, while also delivering a sustainable solution that will allow airport operations to scale up as travel resumes. In future, this verification process can also be used to support border control processes to help enable the safe reopening of borders.

“International travel remains suppressed due to various travel restraints around the world,” says Cathay Pacific General Manager Customer Experience and Design Vivian Lo. “For borders to reopen fully once again, travellers may need to provide Covid-19 test and vaccination records that meet government requirements in order to travel. We believe that digital travel passes will play an important role in helping facilitate the safe, progressive return of international travel. We have therefore been collaborating with our industry partners to pursue the adoption of universally recognised digital travel passes as we prepare to welcome more passengers onboard our flights.”

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