Airline travellers demand unified global COVID-19 travel passes

A poll taken by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) shows that airline passengers are “fed up” with confusion at airports due to Covid-19 health checks and want to see a unified global system put in place.

The poll, of 4,700 travellers in 11 markets, found respondents saying they were less likely to travel because they struggle with Coronavirus-related rules and requirements and that this impacts their willingness to travel:

• 70% thought the rules and the accompanying paperwork were a challenge to understand

• 67% saw arranging testing as a hassle

• 89% agreed governments must standardise vaccinations/testing certifications

Commenting on the survey, IATA Director General, Willie Walsh advised “these responses should be a wake-up call to governments that they need to do a better job of preparing for a restart. Almost two-thirds of respondents plan to resume travel within a few months of the pandemic being contained (and borders opened). And by the six-month mark, almost 85% expect to be back to travel. To avoid overwhelming airports and border control authorities, governments need to agree to replace paper-based processes with digital solutions like the IATA Travel Pass for vaccine and testing documentation.”

Almost nine out of 10 respondents like the idea of using a mobile app to store their travel health credentials and 87% support a secure digital system to manage health credentials.

However, 75% say they will only use an app if they have full control of their vaccine/test data.

Walsh added “IATA Travel Pass enables travellers to receive, store and share their health information with governments and airlines but they always keep control of the information on their own mobile device. Now is the time for governments to facilitate digital solutions like IATA Travel Pass to avoid chaos at airports as travel begins to return.”

Passengers strongly support mask-wearing onboard (83%) and strict enforcement of mask rules (86%), but a majority also believe the mask requirement should be ended as soon as possible.