(TAN): Virgin Atlantic is partnering with IATA Travel Pass and TrustAssure to launch two separate, complementary trials to streamline customer journeys.
From April 16, the airline will commence a one-month trial of the IATA Travel Pass on its popular London Heathrow-Barbados services, in close collaboration with the government of Barbados, which will accept the pass at its border. Customers travelling for permitted reasons on flights VS131 from London Heathrow to Barbados will be invited to participate in the trial by downloading the IATA Travel Pass on their smartphone. Using the app they can create a digital ID comprising their profile photo and passport information and upload their Covid-19 credentials, selecting relevant flight information.
The IATA Travel Pass is at the forefront of digital health pass solutions being developed, allowing customers to verify that they meet the health criteria needed to travel between certain countries, with evidence of a negative Covid-19 test. Future versions of the app will also incorporate vaccine records. The free app is currently being considered by governments around the world to support the restart of international travel at scale and Virgin Atlantic will seek approval from the UK Government to expand the trial, to accommodate customers arriving at the UK border on Barbados-Heathrow flights.
In further progress towards end-to-end digital health integration, from 29 March, customers travelling to Virgin Atlantic’s US destinations will be able to verify Covid-19 test results digitally, utilising TrustAssure’s robust artificial intelligence (A.I.)-based solution. Each customer’s pre-departure test documentation can be securely uploaded via its mobile-optimised website, in advance of their flight, and validated using A.I., in less than two minutes. The technology has already proven extremely effective in development and trials by Virgin Atlantic’s Joint Venture partner, Delta Air Lines. Once confirmed, customers receive a QR code with a green verification, meaning they can proceed quickly through check in.
Corneel Koster, chief customer & operating officer at Virgin Atlantic, said: “Our Barbados trial with IATA Travel Pass is an exciting step towards a ‘digital health pass’ as we actively explore secure solutions to integrate testing, vaccination, health documents and locator forms into our customer journeys. Building on the success of the development by our partners Delta and TrustAssure and in line with our innovative spirit, we are also proud to join a partnership with CLX Health to deliver industry-leading AI-powered test verification for US-bound customers.”
Barbados’ Tourism Minister Lisa Cummins said: “Safe travel is integral to Barbados’ full return to tourism, and we welcome this progressive step which complements our already implemented public health protocols and programmes. Barbados travel protocols have included a negative Covid-19 test since last year, and we are currently leading the Caribbean in an aggressive inoculation programme which has seen nearly 30% of our adult population vaccinated to date.”
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Nick Careen, IATA’s senior vice president airport, passenger, cargo, security said: “Our priority is getting international flights back in the air, to support the thousands of people that work in aviation and its related industries, such as tourism. Health passes are the key to doing this safely. We are proud to partner with Virgin Atlantic and the government of Barbados to trial IATA Travel Pass and demonstrate that this technology can securely, conveniently and efficiently help manage passenger travel health credentials.”
