Korean Air Participates in IATA 'Travel Pass' Pilot Operation

'Digital Certificate' to Verify COVID-19 Test Results and More

On the 4th, citizens are checking in at the departure hall of Terminal 2, Incheon International Airport. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Yu Je-hoon] Korean Air announced on the 18th that it has signed a business agreement with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) for the pilot operation of the 'Travel Pass.'

IATA's Travel Pass is a type of 'digital certificate' that allows passengers traveling by air to check all necessary COVID-19 test results required for entry into each country at once through an application installed on their mobile phones.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, countries have required COVID-19 test results upon entry, and recently, vaccination status has also been requested. However, most test results or vaccination records are in paper form, making verification difficult. Verification takes considerable time and procedures, and due to the limitations of paper documents, there is also a possibility of forgery.

Korean Air plans to first conduct an internal pilot operation of the Travel Pass in mid-next month and then expand it to passengers in May. The IATA Travel Pass pilot operation scheduled for May will target flight KE011 from Incheon to Los Angeles (LA).

During the Travel Pass pilot operation, Korean Air aims to enable passengers to quickly get tested and depart under the concept of 'Test and Fly.' Passengers on the flight will take an antigen test at the COVID-19 testing center located at Incheon Airport immediately after arriving at the airport on the day of departure, and the test results will be sent to the app pre-installed by the passengers within about an hour. Then, during check-in, passengers will verify their test results through the Travel Pass and board the aircraft.

A Korean Air official stated, "While actively responding to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we plan to explore various measures with IATA to promote safer air travel."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.