DUBAI: Bahrain’s national carrier, Gulf Air, became the fourth Middle East airline to sign up for the trial phase of a digital travel pass launched to speed up the revival of the worldwide aviation industry amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The airline joined three different Gulf-based carriers — Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar Airways — who will likely be working with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to test the travel go in the coming weeks.
“Gulf Air is proud to partner with IATA to trial IATA Travel Pass to simplify and enhance compliance with Covid-19 health requirements and ensure passengers can fly with confidence,” Waleed Abdulhameed Al-Alawi, Gulf Air’s acting chief executive, mentioned.
The e-pass, which will be made accessible soon on mobile application stores, includes documented health information about passengers, such as checks and vaccinations, as well as particular country requirements related to COVID-19 precautions.
“IATA Travel Pass acts as a ‘digital passport’ enabling travelers to securely and effortlessly navigate their travel plans, knowing that their verified travel credential is based on the latest Covid-19 information, strict data privacy regulations, and entry rules for their destination,” Al-Alawi explained.
The travel body was ramping up efforts to encourage governments and airways to cooperate in creating a standardized system to speed up the aviation business’s return to regular operations — which was heavily hit when worldwide borders were first shuttered in March the last yr.
