Bahrain’s national carrier has announced a partnership with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to trial a new app to help passengers manage their travel amid ongoing Covid-19 restrictions.
Gulf Air joins a growing number of carriers, including the UAE’s Emirates and Etihad Airway, to participate in the IATA Travel Pass trial in a bid to help pave the way for the re-establishment of global connectivity while managing the risks of Covid-19.
Gulf Air passengers will be able to create a ‘digital passport’ allowing them to match their travel itineraries with the Covid-19 health requirements of their destination country.
During the trial, the service will be available to Gulf Air’s customers travelling on select routes to and from Bahrain.
“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,” said Waleed Abdulhameed AlAlawi, Gulf Air’s acting CEO.
“IATA Travel Pass acts as a ‘digital passport’ enabling travellers 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,” he added.
In January, Emirates and Etihad Airways partnered with IATA to be among the first airlines in the world to trial the IATA Travel Pass.
Prior to a full roll out, Emirates said it will implement phase one in Dubai for the validation of Covid-19 PCR tests before departure.
In this initial phase, expected to begin in April, Emirates customers travelling from Dubai will be able to share their Covid-19 test status directly with the airline even before reaching the airport through the app, which will then auto-populate the details on the check-in system.
Etihad said the IATA Travel Pass will initially be offered to passengers on selected flights from Abu Dhabi in the first quarter of 2021. If successful, the pass will be extended to other destinations on the Etihad network.
Within the IATA Travel Pass app, the integrated registry of travel requirements will also enable passengers to find accurate information on travel and entry requirements for all destinations regardless of where they are travelling from.
It will also include a registry of testing and eventually vaccination centres – making it more convenient for passengers to find testing centres and labs at their departure location which meet the standards for testing and vaccination requirements of their destination.
The platform will also enable authorised labs and test centres to securely send test results or vaccination certificates to passengers. The global registry, managed by IATA, will manage and allow the secure flow of necessary information among all stakeholders and to provide a seamless passenger experience.
The launch of the IATA Travel Pass comes as the authority predicts that Middle Eastern airlines are expected to see their losses rise to $7.1 billion in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic continues to decimate the aviation industry.
In absolute numbers, the Middle East is expected to see 60 million travellers last year compared to the 203 million in 2019.
The aviation authority said that a full return to 2019 levels is not expected until late 2024 in the Middle East region.
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