Switzerland-based non-profit The Commons Project Foundation and the World Economic Forum this month plan to start trialing a digital pass that certifies incoming travelers' Covid-19 test status, the organizations announced Wednesday.
The trials will be conducted with Cathay Pacific and United Airlines. Called CommonPass, the pass will enable travelers to use their mobile phone to show their Covid-19 test status to crossborder authorities and airline staff in a manner compliant with privacy regulations, including the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation. Covid-19 test results for crossborder travel currently are shared typically on printed paper, or photos of the paper, often from unknown labs and without a standard format or certification.
To use CommonPass, travelers would take a Covid-19 test at a certified lab, upload the results to their mobile phone and complete the health screening questionnaires required by their destination country. Once complete, CommonPass confirms a traveler's compliance with the destination country's entry requirements and generates a QR code, which can be scanned by airline staff and border officials. Travelers without a mobile device have the option to print the QR code.
CommonPass also would enable governments to have confidence in the accuracy of each incoming traveler's verified Covid-19 status, according to the organizations, as well as the flexibility to adapt entry requirements as the pandemic evolves, including the specific types of lab tests or vaccinations to require, if any. The Commons Project Foundation and the World Economic Forum is collaborating with a broad coalition of public and private partners, including government representatives from 37 countries.
Cathay Pacific and United will be the first carriers to trial the service. Cathay Pacific will do so with volunteers on a flight between Hong Kong International Airport and Singapore Changi International Airport. The carrier will use testing technology provided by private testing company Prenetics.
United will trial the service with volunteers on flights between London Heathrow Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport. At London Heathrow, Prenetics will provide the testing technology, which will be administered by travel and medical services company Collinson.
"Testing is a key component of a multi-layered approach to safely reopening travel," said
United regulatory and policy VP Steve Morrissey in a press release. "Trials with solutions like CommonPass are critical to demonstrate the potential for testing as an alternative to blanket quarantine measures or travel restrictions, while we continue to focus on the safety and health of our customers and employees."
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will observe the trials. After the trials, the CommonPass rollout could expand to additional airlines and routes across Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Europe and the Middle East.
"I am encouraged by how quickly the global travel industry has coalesced around the CommonPass Framework," said American Express Global Business Travel founder and executive chairman Greg O'Hara in a press release. "CommonPass can give travelers the clarity and confidence they need to start moving again."