SIA testing digital health verification process for inbound passengers from KL, Jakarta

Singapore

NATIONAL carrier Singapore Airlines (SIA) is testing out a new digital health verification process, with passengers flying into the Republic from Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur being the first to use the pilot protocol.

The company, in a press statement on Wednesday, said the verification process - the world's first based on the International Air Transport Association's (Iata) Travel Pass framework - allows passengers to securely store and present information related to Covid-19 tests, as well as their vaccination status.

SIA customers who take Covid-19 tests at selected clinics in the two cities would be given either digital or paper health certificates with a QR code. Airport check-in staff and immigration authority here would then verify the authenticity of these certificates via a secure mobile app.

Customers without a digital certificate would present the paper version for manual verification instead.

An SIA spokesperson said: "As digital verification technology is still new and gaining acceptance, passengers should always bring a printed copy of their health certificate for verification, in line with existing established process.

A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU

Friday, 2 pm

Lifestyle

Our picks of the latest dining, travel and leisure options to treat yourself.

Sign Up

"However, as the industry's intent is for digitally-verifiable health certificates to be the universal mode of health declaration, we encourage passengers to use them as this will lead to a faster and more secure travel experience."

SIA's current protocol is that check-in staff and immigration officers would refer to a printout of the passenger's health certificate for validation.

Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung said in a Facebook post that his ministry and the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore will support the digital verification process to make it a regional or international practice.

SIA could adopt this protocol for passengers on other routes if the trial is successful. The verification is enabled by an application developed by Affinidi, a Temasek-founded technology company enabling portable and verifiable data credentials.

The carrier intends to put the entire process into the SingaporeAir mobile app from around mid-2021, also leveraging the Iata framework for Travel Pass. Travel Pass, an app by the industry body for airlines, offers similar functions for storage of health certificates for verification purposes.

JoAnn Tan, acting senior vicepresident, marketing planning at SIA, said: "Covid-19 tests and vaccinations will be an integral part of air travel for the foreseeable future. We are offering a digital solution that allows the easy and secure verification of this information, and supports the industry's safe and calibrated recovery from this pandemic."

Nick Careen, Iata's senior vicepresident for airport, passenger, cargo and security, said: "This will help ensure that SIA's customers will be among the first to benefit as governments reopen their borders with testing or vaccination requirements."