Arrive Ready To Fly

IATA has developed industry standards which will bring the aim of having travellers arrive at airports ready-to-fly one step closer to reality.

The newly released Recommended Practice on Digitalization of Admissibility will enable travellers to digitally prove admissibility to an international destination, avoiding a stop at the check-in desk or boarding gate for document checks.

Under the One ID initiative airlines are working with IATA to digitalize the passenger experience at airports with contactless biometric-enabled processes.

Programs are already in use in various airports enabling travelers to move through airport processes such as boarding without producing paper documentation because their boarding pass is linked to a biometric identifier. But in many cases travelers would still have to prove their admissibility at a check-in desk or boarding gate with physical checks of paper documentation (passports, visas and health credentials for example).

The Digitalization of Admissibility standard will advance the realization of One ID with a mechanism for passengers to digitally obtain all necessary pre-travel authorizations directly from governments before their trip. By sharing the “OK to Fly” status with their airline, travelers can avoid all on-airport document checks.

What travellers will be able to do in future:

• Create a verified digital identity using their airline app on their smart phone
• Using their digital identity, they can send proof of all required documentation to destination authorities in advance of travel
• Receive a digital ‘approval of admissibility’ in their digital identity/passport app
• Share the verified credential (not all their data) with their airline
• Receive confirmation from their airline that all is in order and go to the airport

The new standards have been developed to protect passengers’ data and ensure that travel remains accessible to all. Passengers remain in control of their data and only credentials (verified approvals, not the data behind them) are shared peer-to-peer (with no intermediating party).

This is interoperable with the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) standards, including those for the Digital Travel Credential. Manual processing options will be retained so that travelers will have the ability to opt out of digital admissibility processing.

IATA’s Timatic offering is helping deliver the One ID vision with trusted entry requirement information for airlines and travelers. Integrating Timatic into the apps providing entry requirements registry model brings with it an established process for the global collection, verification, updating and distribution of this information.

Go to www.iata.org for more.