september2021 - 20

COVER STORY
are going to try out the application. And
then they have to inform their staff first
and then the passengers who are going to
be part of the trial, for them to download
the app and explain to them what's the
benefit and how it will work. And then, of
course, their staff is aware, so that when
the passenger is coming with the app, they
know what to do with it and to ask the right
questions. And for that, usually, it's a three
to four weeks trial, " explains Leger.
All Nippon Airways (ANA) was the first
airline in Japan to trial the Travel Pass,
requirements for implementation. The airline
is also in close communications with
the Japanese authorities as government
acceptance of IATA Travel Pass is a critical
factor for implementation, says Kaminogo.
Japan Airlines (JAL) started their trial
in June and finished at the end of August.
" Since earlier on in 2021, through learning
the functions and the potential possibility
this app could deliver to international
travel, we decided to launch a trial period
to understand the features and any operational
adjustments necessary, " says Saori
ANA officials say that with being the
first airline to trial the Travel Pass in Japan,
there was a good amount of interest around
the app.
On May 11, ANA invited customers to
participate in the trial. The trial was conducted
on ANA's Haneda-Honolulu and
Haneda-New York/JFK routes from May
24 to June 6, with about 50 passengers
registered for it.
" We believe the benefits of IATA Travel
Pass include: allowing travelers to check
the latest travel and health requirements
of their destination and verify whether
they meet them, providing a touchless and
seamless experience, managing passenger
data in a secure way, and reducing the risk
of fraudulent COVID-19 test and vaccination
certificates, " says Kaminogo.
Leger says that as part of the trial, IATA
surveys the passengers to understand their
views on the application. And IATA also
surveys the staff of the airlines to get their
feedback.
Then on the hard side of the process is
giving the airlines the option to integrate
the Travel Pass into their own app.
" So, the objective of what we have develbeginning
their journey with the app in
March and conducting their trial at the
end of May.
" We worked closely with IATA to determine
the details of the trial. At the end of
May, ANA successfully conducted a twoweek
trial on our Tokyo/Haneda-Honolulu
and Tokyo/Haneda-New York/JFK
routes, " says Miku Kaminogo, manager of
Alliances & International Affairs at ANA.
" The trial was in line with ANA's goal to
seek innovative digital solutions and help
customers seamlessly and securely manage
their international travel in order to
meet the latest global COVID-19 health
requirements. "
ANA is now currently in the process of
evaluating the commercial and technical
Utsunomiya, assistant manager digital CX
strategy and innovation, JAL.
Utsunomiya adds that the small market
of international air travel affected the number
of participating customers.
" However, JAL gained 200 participants
despite the circumstances, " Utsunomiya
continues.
" Although there is room for improvement,
we believe the trial has been successful
overall with no critical issues. We
have learned the amount of time consumed
at the check-in counter to confirm the
customer's travel health requirements via
IATA Travel Pass has drastically decreased
compared to checking paper test certificates
- from taking 3 minutes per customer to as
fast as 10 seconds in average "
20 GROUND SUPPORT WORLDWIDE SEPTEMBER 2021
oped is not for IATA to make available the
app. It's more for the airlines to integrate
the functionality of Travel Pass into their
own app. Because if you travel with an
airline, you want to use the app of the airline's
to do all of the functionalities that I've
just described, be it the digital ID, or be it
understanding the regulatory requirements,
or even defining where you can be tested in
a lab and collecting your information on the
airline app to then do your check-in and to
do your booking and to issue and to print
your boarding pass, " Leger says.
Airlines also have the option of using
the IATA Travel Pass app outside of their
own app, if they choose not to integrate it.
ANA officials say the app addresses key
pain points for passengers, helping them
keep on top of the regularly changing
COVID regulations around the world, and
also takes some of the burden off of airlines
who are responsible for ensuring passengers
are compliant with these regulations.
" From the airline perspective, we are
often responsible for ensuring that passengers
comply with entry requirements. Yet,
september2021

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