Business

Vaccine passports to give govts confidence to restart air travel

Vaccine passports to give govts confidence to restart air travel

April 07, 2021 | 10:11 PM
An All Nippon Airways Co (ANA) employee assists a passenger at a check-in counter at Haneda Airport in Tokyo. ANA plans to trial the IATA Travel Pass app, which allows passengers to verify if they meet the Covid-19 testing requirements of their destination and share their test results with airlines and authorities.
 
Alex Macheras
With Japan preparing to host the Olympic Games in July, without inbound spectators, the country’s public and private sectors are taking steps to help restart inbound and outbound travel albeit with a longer term vision.Japan will also be issuing digital health certificates to citizens who have been inoculated, according to Nikkei. The Nikkei report also added that the digital certificate can be managed on a mobile app and will be in line with international standards, allowing the individual to present proof of vaccination at immigration checkpoints.In the public sector, All Nippon Airways (ANA) plans to trial the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Travel Pass app, which allows passengers to verify if they meet the Covid-19 testing requirements of their destination and share their test results with airlines and authorities.“Through our trial, we hope to contribute to the development of the digital solution, which aims to make the travel experience more seamless, secure and contactless,” said Yuji Hirako, president and CEO of ANA.Greece joined Cyprus which announced a similar proposal for tourists last week, and the country is considering opening its borders to tourists who have received a coronavirus vaccine as early as May, it has been reported. Travellers who can prove that they have had a Covid-19 vaccine, may be allowed into Greece early this summer without any restriction. Its neighbour, Cyprus, gave hint of similar policy. Cypriot Deputy Tourism Minister Savvas Perdios said on Thursday: "We have informed the British government that from May 1 we will facilitate the arrival of British nationals who have been vaccinated ... so they can visit Cyprus without a negative test or needing to quarantine."Visitors would need to be inoculated with vaccines approved by the European Medicines Agency, the minister said. “The second dose of the vaccine must have been administered at least a week before travel,” Perdios added. European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen announced that plans for a 'digital green pass' will be set out this month to allow tourism and business travel to resume on the continent. The pass, a version of which has already been adopted in Israel, would allow people to prove they have been vaccinated or tested negative for Covid-19. But British officials have warned that Europe's slow vaccine progress means travel to the EU this summer remains shrouded in uncertainty. For the aviation sector, it’s widely accepted that the digital health passport for travel is on its way – it’s inevitable. Currently, the only disease that requires an official international certificate of vaccination is yellow fever. This is called the 'yellow cardtarget="_blank"'>
April 07, 2021 | 10:11 PM