Shares

RwandAir will become the first African airline to do a trial IATA Travel Pass to enable safe and seamless international travel. The airline will begin a three week trial in April for customers travelling between Kigali and Nairobi, Kenya.

IATA Travel Pass is a digital platform to help passengers easily and securely verify legitimate COVID-19 test certificates or vaccine travel requirements. This Travel Pass will in turn, give Governments the confidence to reopen borders.

The Travel Pass was developed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The platform is designed to be incorporated into airlines’ own apps, so travellers by air can be easily informed of travel requirements.

Yvonne Manzi Makolo, CEO of RwandAir, said, “RwandAir is proud to be the first African airline to trial IATA Travel Pass, which could reinforce all the health and safety measures and protocols which we have put in place to restore customer confidence to fly once more. We are incredibly proud to be part of IATA’s Industry Advisory Panel, to ensure we guide the technology development in a way that covers the unique requirements of our passenger profile.”

IATA Director General and CEO, Alexandre de Juniac, said, “This trial will build on that history of working in partnership and takes us a step further in the context of COVID-19. IATA Travel Pass will give governments the confidence to re-open their borders knowing that arriving passengers are in full compliance with any testing or vaccination requirements.”

The trial app has a range of features, including a registry of testing centres and labs at the departure and/or arrival locations. These locations will be used to conduct COVID-19 tests in accordance with the type of test required for the journey.

RwandAir customers participating in the trial will create a digital passport, which verifies the pre-travel COVID-19 test or vaccination meets the requirements of the destination they are travelling to. They will also be able to safely and securely share their test and vaccination certificates with participating authorities and airlines around the world to ensure smooth and seamless travel.