EU and UK Digital COVID-19 Certificates Recognised by IATA Travel Pass

Travellers holding an EU Digital COVID-19 Certificate (DCC) or UK NHS COVID-19 Pass can now access accurate COVID-19 travel information for their journey, as well as create an electronic version of their passport and import their vaccination certificate in one place. This information can be shared with airlines and border control authorities who can have the assurance that the certificate presented to them is genuine and belongs to the person presenting it. 

“COVID-19 vaccination certificates are becoming a widespread requirement for international travel. Handling the EU and UK certificates through IATA Travel Pass is an important step forward, providing convenience for travellers, authenticity for governments and efficiency for airlines,” said Nick Careen, IATA’s Senior Vice President for Operations Safety and Security.  

Harmonisation of digital vaccine standards

Harmonisation of digital vaccine standards is essential to support the safe and scalable restart of aviation, avoiding unnecessary airport queues and ensuring a smooth passenger experience. IATA welcomes the work done by the EU Commission in developing, in record time, the EU DCC system and thereby standardising digital vaccine certificates across the EU. 

Building on the EU DCC success, IATA urges the World Health Organization (WHO) to revisit its work to develop a global digital vaccine standard.

“The absence of a global standard makes it much harder for airlines, border authorities and governments to recognize and verify a traveller’s digital vaccination certificate. The industry is working around this by developing solutions that can recognise and verify certificates from individual countries. But this is a slow process that is hampering the restart of international travel.   

“As more states roll out their vaccination programmes, many are urgently looking to implement technical solutions to provide vaccine certification for their citizens when they travel. In the absence of a WHO standard, IATA urges them to look closely at the EU DCC as a proven solution that meets WHO guidance and can help to reconnect the world,” added Careen.