The IATA application could restart international flights without quarantine

A new app, which will be released in a few weeks, could mark the first step in resuming international travel without quarantine.

The International Air Travel Association (IATA) travel app will allow governments and airlines to digitally collect, access and share information on the status of the test and vaccination of individual Covid-19 passengers.

The industry body, of which 290 airlines are members, said the tool will bring greater “efficiency” to health documentation checks, while accelerating the recovery of the affected travel sector.

“It’s really about digitizing an existing process,” Nick Careen, IATA’s senior vice president for passenger cargo and airport security, told CNBC on Wednesday.

“This is the way to go, because if we do manual processing, we will stop the moment we start rebooting,” he said.

Singapore Airlines will be the first airline to fly the tool on an end-to-end route from London Heathrow. Thirty more airlines, including Air New Zealand, as well as Emirates and Etihad in the United Arab Emirates, will test until March and April.

IATA is not the only one to develop so-called digital health passports intended to restart cross-border travel. International agencies, governments and technology companies are also involved. But Careen said he expects the app to set a “minimum set of requirements” to allow for greater interoperability.

“Eventually, you’ll see several people in this space,” he said, “but we’re setting the baseline for what the standard should be.”

With the new application and continued launch of vaccines, the global association of airlines estimates that travel could reach around 50% of 2019 levels by the end of this year.

Analysts had previously expected a further recovery in travel in early 2021, but the continued spread of the virus and the emergence of new strains have pushed back those expectations.

“That’s the current economic forecast,” Careen said. “There are a lot of variables at play.”