The International Air Transportation Association (IATA), a trade association representing most major airlines, announced on Wednesday that they are developing a “vaccine passport” app on Apple devices in mid-April. The Android app will launch at an unspecified date.
The app will “speed up the check-in process” by allowing users to quickly provide proof of their vaccination status or a negative test. The app also will contain a database of travel restrictions and will tell passengers what they need to fly somewhere. It also would contain a “secure, encrypted channel” that would allow medical companies to send over vaccination and testing records.
Airlines have not publicly announced if they will require users to use the app, but a spokesperson for the IATA told Reuters that a “huge amount of airlines have requested to be on board” with the app.
Virgin Atlantic said it would debut it on its London to Barbados route on April 16th. Barbados said it will accept the app at its border.
“Vaccine passports” have become a hot topic over the past week as New York, Hawaii, and the federal government has announced plans to debut a “vaccine passport.”
Discussion about this post