British Airways today revealed the launch of a third travel passport app through its check-in portal. The announcement follows the VeriFLY app implementation and the IATA Health Pass, which is yet to be activated for British Airways' passengers.
To ease checks at borders and comply with government guidelines on travel, many airlines are starting to ask passengers to prove their COVID-19 status before flying, being this through vaccination certificates or negative test results. So-called health passport apps allow such documents to be verified digitally before a passenger even departs their home for the airport.
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An in-house verification system
British Airways has already been allowing any passengers traveling to the United States, Canada, or the United Kingdom to certify their COVID-19 documents via the VeriFLY app. However, today the airline announced another trial on flights to India.
Three days before departing to India, passengers will receive an email directing them to the 'manage my booking' section of the British Airways website. On the website, they will find the latest COVID-19 requirements for their destination, such as requiring a negative COVID-19 test or a vaccine certificate.
Passengers will be able to upload these documents before traveling for verification by the airline. This is the same verification that would be carried out by staff at the airport, so passengers are not required to give any more information than they currently do.
Once received, the airline aims to certify the documents within six hours to provide passengers with peace of mind to travel and avoid checks at the airport. British Airways has outlined the process in the video below,
As the trial expands, the airline is aiming to add additional destinations. BA is also hoping to roll out the functionality to its mobile app.
The airline's third health passport app
With the airline previously revealing that it would trial the IATA health pass app, this is the third health passport service that the airline has announced it is working with. Commenting on this third health passport app, British Airways CEO Sean Doyle said,
"We are already offering access to travel app ‘VeriFLY’ on selected routes and IAG has been helping develop ‘Travel Pass’ with IATA. Now it’s also time to look at what we can offer through our own website. 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."
The airline commented that it would continue to look at different health passport options for passengers, meaning that we could see even more possibilities for verifying documents in the future. It is yet to be seen whether British Airways will narrow the selection down to one app or offer different apps to cater to different passengers.
What do you make of British Airways' new Health Passport app? Let us know what you think and why in the comments!