What you need to know
- A global airline industry body is releasing a digital COVID-19 pass for iOS.
- IATA's new pass will be launched around April 15.
- It will let travelers store COVID-19 test results and vaccine certificates on their iPhone.
A new digital travel pass from Global airline body IATA is set to launch on iOS 14 and iPhone next month.
From Reuters:
Global airline industry body IATA said on Wednesday a digital travel pass for COVID-19 test results and vaccine certificates would be launched on the Apple platform in mid-April.The digital travel pass, currently in the testing phase, had been planned to be launched by the end of March.
IATA's regional VP for Africa and the Middle East Kamil Alawadhi said the new digital pass will launch on Apple "around April 15" and is coming "later" for Android. UK carrier Virgin Atlantic is to trial the pass on its London to Barbados route from April 16, and Barbados has said it will accept the pass at its border, making it one of the first to accept digital rather than paper documentation. IATA says the pass will help speed up check-ins but "will only achieve its success" once other airlines, countries, and airports adopt it.
In February EU Commission head Ursula von der Leyen told reporters that Apple was working with the WHO to offer vaccine passport solutions to help revive post-pandemic travel, comments that it quickly walked back.
Earlier this week it emerged that Apple was adding COVID-19 travel information to over 300 airports within its Apple Maps software, from that report:
Starting today, Apple Maps is getting COVID-19 airport travel guidance at over 300 destinations worldwide.Users searching for airports on iPhone, iPad, or Mac will be able to easily see health requirements at included airports directly on the Apple Maps place card, which will alert them to things like face-covering requirements, health tests or screenings, and guidelines about quarantine. Users will be able to access a website link for an airport's COVID-19 web page or local requirements directly from within the app.
