Singapore accepts IATA’s travel pass

From 1 May, passengers travelling to Singapore will be able to use IATA Travel Pass to share their pre-departure Covid-19 PCR test results upon check-in with their airline, as well as on-arrival at the immigration checkpoints at Changi Airport. This is part of an ongoing collaboration between the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) and IATA to facilitate seamless and efficient travel through digital certificates of Covid-19 tests. Currently, more than 20 airlines have announced trials of the IATA Travel Pass.

“Having the confidence of an aviation leader like Singapore accept IATA Travel Pass is hugely significant. Ongoing trials put us on track for IATA Travel Pass to be a critical tool for the industry’s restart by delivering verified travel health credentials to governments. And travellers can have complete confidence that their personal data is secure and under their own control. The success of our joint efforts will make IATA’s partnership with the government of Singapore a model for others to follow,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.

Developing a solution to facilitate travel

Kevin Shum, CAAS Director-General, added: “We have built upon our longstanding and deep partnership with IATA to develop solutions to facilitate travel. This latest collaboration with IATA demonstrates our shared commitment to drive the adoption of digital health certificates and restore international air travel. As we look to safely rebuild the Changi air hub, we will continue to explore other solutions that can provide similarly secure and verifiable means of sharing health certificates for safe international travel.”

Digital health certificates will be a key feature in air travel moving forward. Establishing trusted, secure solutions to verify the health credentials of travellers will be critical in facilitating smooth air travel and safeguarding public health. The IATA Travel Pass is a personal secure digital wallet solution that can be used by passengers to obtain and store their Covid-19 test results from accredited laboratories.

The format satisfies Singapore’s test requirements

Following the successful trials by Singapore Airlines, the Singapore health and border control authorities will accept the IATA Travel Pass as a valid form of presentation of Covid-19 pre-departure test results for entry into Singapore. The information presented on the IATA Travel Pass will be in a format that satisfies Singapore’s prevailing Covid-19 pre-departure test requirements for entry into Singapore.

Singapore once again seems to be ahead of the game when it comes to implementing innovative solutions to help facilitate international travel. In March 2021, Changi Airport announced the opening of international business travel ‘bubbles’.