Air Serbia among the first airlines in Europe to trial IATA Travel Pass

Air Serbia, in cooperation with the International Air Transport Association (IATA), from the beginning of April will start testing the IATA digital passport (“IATA Travel Pass”), a mobile application that helps passengers organize their travels easy and safely under the regulations of countries pertaining to COVID-19 testing or vaccination.

In this manner, the Serbian national airline will be one of the first airlines in Europe to become a part of the global initiative, whose goal is to re-open borders without quarantines and guaranteeing safe travels, the recovery of tourism, and the aviation industry.  

The first stage of the trial will be carried out on Air Serbia flights between Belgrade and Zurich, it will last several weeks, and passengers will be invited to participate.

“We are proud to be among the first in the world to test the digital passport. Once again, we have confirmed our dedication to protecting the safety, health, and well-being of passengers, as well as to create an integrated and seamless user experience,” said Duncan Naysmith, Air Serbia CEO. “This innovative IATA solution is a great initiative, which will provide the passengers with the certainty that they meet all requirements to enter different parts of the world. We owe great gratitude to the Institute of Virology, Vaccines, and Sera ‘Torlak’ from Belgrade. They will be directly connected with IATA, and without their support and collaboration, this pilot project would not be possible.”

IATA Travel Pass will allow passengers to store and manage data about COVID-19 test results on their phones and share their verified status with the airline, safely and securely, before arriving at the airport. The IATA digital passport will also provide up-to-date information about the coronavirus’s health regulations, helping passengers verify whether they meet the latest requirements to enter the destination country.

“We’re proud to work with Air Serbia to make IATA Travel Pass available in Europe. It’s a first step in making European and international travel during the pandemic as convenient as possible, giving people the confidence to meet all COVID-19 entry requirements by governments. As borders re-open, IATA Travel Pass will be further enhanced with more capabilities to meet all government’s testing or vaccination verification requirements, and Air Serbia’s customers will be among the first to have these services,” said Rafael Schwartzman, IATA’s Regional Vice President for Europe.

Air Serbia passengers will have the opportunity to quickly and simply create their digital passports. After testing and/or vaccination, national reference laboratories will send protected information into the user’s app safely. IATA Travel Pass will then compare the requirements for travel with the input user data, and all who meet the conditions for their desired destination will get a green light for travel. As a safe place for storing health information, this application will not only accelerate the check-in process for flights. Still, it will also create the potential for contactless travel in the future.

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