Virgin Atlantic starts digital health pass trials ahead of longed-for recovery

UK-based carrier Virgin Atlantic said it had started digital health pass trials in a bid to show governments around the world that apps displaying COVID-19 test results and vaccine certificates can launch a travel recovery. Virgin Atlantic said it would trial the IATA Travel Pass on its London to Barbados route from April 16. Barbados has said it will accept the pass at its border, one of the first countries to accept a digital pass instead of paper checks. Britain’s strict ban on all but essential travel is due to lift on May 17, although renewed lockdowns and slow vaccine rollouts have raised the spectre of another weak summer that could further batter airline balance sheets. Virgin raised an extra GBP160m in new financing earlier this month. Airlines are hoping that the UK and other countries will approve the use of digital passes on apps, allowing travel to resume at scale. Without them airport checks on multiple paper forms will cause huge queues and could limit traveller numbers. “Right now these border checks are fully paper-based, very lengthy. With a digital solution, the borders can flow better,” Virgin’s chief customer and operating officer Corneel Koster said.<br/>