Air New Zealand to trial digital COVID vaccination passport for flights to Australia

Air New Zealand on February 22 announced that from April it will trial a digital vaccination passport on flights between Auckland and Sydney. According to ABC News, the latest scheme is intended to streamline travel once borders reopen by allowing passengers to store their health credentials in one place. The Travel Pass app is developed by the International Air Transport Association and the trial will allow travellers to create a “digital health wallet” that is linked to their passport. 

Air New Zealand chief digital officer Jennifer Sepull compared the digital vaccination passport to a digital health certificate and said that it can be “easily and securely” shared with airlines. According to reports, once the passengers are tested or vaccinated, the lab can securely send that information to the app, which will then be cross-checked against the travel requirements for the country they hoped to visit. Sepull said that reassuring customers that travel is safe is of the top priorities. 

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Australia supportive of vaccination passport 

She added that by using the app, customers can have confidence that everyone onboard meets the same government health requirements they do. Jennifer also said that having a place to store all the health credentials digitally in one place will not only speed up the check-in process but also unlock the potential for contactless travel. Further, the airlines said that the trial would run for three weeks once the app was available in April and aircrew and customers would be invited to join. 

The airlines said that there was no centralised database holding passenger’s personal information. It added that the information will be shared with the airlines at their discretion. The IATA also said that the app would provide information on a government’s health and entry requirements, locations of testing and vaccination centres. 

In a separate statement, a federal Department of Health spokesperson said that the government is looking forward to reviewing the outcomes of the NZ trial. The spokesperson said that the Australian government is also supportive of ways to ensure the safety of the Australian community through the efficient collection and verification of traveller data whilst adhering to strict privacy provisions. It is worth noting that the Government Services Minister Stuart Robert had said that the federal government was involved in the WHO’s vaccination passport working group and with other government’s to ensure interoperability. 

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