Across the world, airlines are starting to team up with digital health passport services as part of the COVID-19 protocol. The Japanese carrier All Nippon Airways has decided to also work with one of such services. ANA will be conducting trials of CommonPass.
With CommonPass, travellers will be able to document and share their COVID-19 test results, vaccination history, and other helpful services.
The Senior Vice President of ANA Corporate Planning, Juichi Hirasawa, remarked on the latest development saying, “At ANA, we are constantly looking for ways to make the travel experience safer and more convenient. Our trials of the CommonPass Health application will help us to ensure that these procedures will enable us to simplify international travel while also protecting passenger privacy.”
ANA’s first trial of the CommonPass digital health passport was conducted on its Tokyo Haneda- New York route, one of its busiest. Speaking further on the advantages of the digital health passport, ANA issued a press statement saying,
“Ensuring that entrants meet all COVID-19 related immigration regulations, the system removes barriers to and expedites processing of international travel while also protecting user privacy.”
Through this current trial, ANA will confirm the application’s effectiveness of tests and check-in procedures at Haneda Airport. The airline hopes to use the data gathered from the test to create “a system for safe international travel and to improve all aspects of the passenger experience.”
According to ANA’s statement, CommonPass will help to verify an individual’s lab test results are conducted at accredited laboratories within the required timeframe, verify an individual’s vaccination records come from a trusted source, and ensure that the traveller meets the health screening requirements of the country they want to enter.
There are already several digital health passports available; airlines are doing their best to evaluate the service best suited to their needs. American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, and British Airways are already working with VeriFly for some services. Also, airBaltic, Air New Zealand, and Singapore Airlines worth with IATA’s Travel Pass.