A new app, set to launch within weeks, could mark the first step in resuming quarantine-free international travel.
The International Air Travel Association travel app will allow governments and airlines to digitally collect, access and share information on the status of individual passengers' Covid-19 test and vaccination. "It's really about digitizing an existing process," Nick Careen, IATA's senior vice president for airport passenger cargo and security, told CNBC Wednesday.Nick Careen"This is the way forward, because if we do manual processing, we will come to a grinding halt the minute we begin to see a restart," he said.
IATA is not alone in developing so-called digital health passports intended to restart cross-border travel.. But Careen said he hopes the app will establish a "minimum set of requirements" to allow for greater interoperability.