British Airways To Add Covid-19 ‘Passport’ To Travel App

British Airways has begun trialling an in-house online system aimed at making it easier for travellers to verify any Covid-19 documents they may need for their journey.

The system is designed to speed up the airline’s verification of documents such as vaccination certificates or negative test results, which some countries require upon arrival.

Under the new system, travellers to India are able to upload the needed documents via British Airways’ web portal.

The airline said it aims to certify the documents within six hours in order to give travellers peace of mind.

App rollout

It said it plans to roll out the trial to more destinations and to add the service to its mobile app.

British Airways already allows passengers travelling to the US, Canada or the UK to certify their Covid-19 documents via the third-party VeriFLY app, and has said it will trial a similar app developed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

But the new system is its first in-house means of easing travel in the Covid-19 era, as the government prepares to ease restrictions around cross-border travel.

“The key benefit of customers being able to upload the correct travel documentation into their booking, is that it enables them to check-in online, speeding up the airport process,” said British Airways chief executive Sean Doyle.

Travel restrictions

Doyle cited the UK’s “great progress” in dealing with the pandemic and urged the country to take a “leadership position” in restoring travel.

“It’s fair to say that Britain has developed a really strong leadership position in coming out the other end of the pandemic,” Doyle said.

“What we want to make sure is that we also take that leadership position into restoring travel and restoring the economy.”

The government has said it plans to approve a return to international travel from 17 May at the earliest, and MPs on the Commons transport committee last week urged the government to stick to that deadline.

“The 17 May date for restarting international travel should be maintained provided that the four reopening tests that the government set out on 22 February are met,” the committee said in its report.