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SINGAPORE: Singapore Airlines (SIA) has begun testing of a new digital health verification application that will allow it to validate COVID-19 test results and vaccination information from a passenger, in a move intended to facilitate return of air travel.
The aviation and tourism industries have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, amid blockades and border restrictions around the world.
The new digital health verification process will provide a “faster and more secure way” to validate a passenger’s health credentials than existing protocols, and will help demonstrate that people can travel with confidence again, the SIA said in a press release on Wednesday (December 23). ).
Under the test, which began on Wednesday, travelers on SIA flights from Jakarta or Kuala Lumpur taking their COVID-19 tests at select clinics in the two cities will receive a digital certificate or paper health certificates with a QR code.
Airport check-in staff and Singapore’s immigration authority will scan the code into an app to verify the authenticity of those certificates and make sure customers meet entry requirements.
Customers without a digital certificate can also submit the paper version for manual verification.
READ: Singapore companies testing the use of digital health passports to verify COVID-19 test results of travelers
READ: Singapore to begin Phase 3 of COVID-19 reopening on December 28
“COVID-19 testing and vaccinations will be an integral part of air travel for the foreseeable future,” said Ms JoAnn Tan, SIA Acting Senior Vice President of Marketing Planning.
“We are offering a digital solution that enables easy and secure verification of this information and supports the industry’s safe and calibrated recovery from this pandemic,” he added.
If the trials are successful, SIA can extend the new digital health verification process to other cities in its network. It also plans to integrate the process into its SingaporeAir mobile app around mid-2021.
Verification is enabled by an application developed by Affinidi, a technology company founded by Temasek that enables portable and verifiable data credentials.
SIA is also working with several partners on the trial, including the Ministry of Transport, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS), the Immigration and Checkpoint Authority and the Changi Airport Group.
“It’s an innovative approach to ensuring smooth travel while ensuring health and border agencies are confident that passengers have the health credentials necessary to protect public health,” said Margaret Tan, Director (Operations Regulation airport and aviation security). CAAS.
“We hope that other countries and airlines will consider taking a similar approach.”
READ: First shipment of COVID-19 vaccines arrives in Singapore
SIA’s new digital health verification process is the first in the world to be based on the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Travel Pass, a digital platform for passengers, the airline said.
The world aviation body announced last month that it was developing the Travel Pass platform and would roll out it for Android phones and Apple iOS in the first half of next year.
Under the IATA Travel Pass platform, a new contactless travel app will combine passport information with test and vaccination certificates received from participating laboratories. It will also draw on global registries of health requirements and testing and vaccination centers.
“The partnership with Singapore Airlines for the world’s first deployment of the Timatic COVID-19 module of the IATA Travel Pass is a huge step forward. Together we will demonstrate that people can travel again with the confidence that they are meeting all government COVID-19 entry requirements, “said Nick Careen, IATA Senior Vice President for Airports, Passengers, Cargo and Security.
READ: How COVID-19 vaccines are transported to Singapore and stored here
Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung said in a Facebook post on Wednesday that he applauds the industry’s initiative.
“This is the ‘health certificate’ that may come in handy when you travel next time,” he said in a post showing verification of a digital COVID-19 test result.
Singapore Airlines is testing the use of a digital health certificate that provides information on COVID-19 testing. (Photo: Affinidi via Facebook / Ong Ye Kung)
“The COVID-19 test results, and soon, your vaccination status, can become very relevant information at registration and immigration counters for cross-border travel. But they should be easily verifiable,” he said.
“Hopefully, with the support of #IATA, various airlines and authorities around the world, this can become the norm and replace the yellow book.”
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