SITA or IATA? Airline passengers will soon be taking their COVID-19 travel pass

SITA or IATA? Airline passengers will soon be taking their COVID-19 travel pass

Dubai: In the near future, anyone booking an airline ticket may well have to take another decision - whether to go with SITA or IATA. These are aviation industry affiliated entities that will soon come out with digital 'travel passes', which will carry details on the passenger's COVID-19-related health status. What SITA and IATA travel passes aim to do is speed up delivery of such vital information and thus inject confidence in air travel among fliers, airlines and governments. "Before you leave, you have to submit the health declaration and give information like where you've been in the last 14 days and whether you have been in close proximity to someone who tested positive," said Emad Muhanna, Vice-President, Government Sector - Middle East, India and Africa (MEIA) at SITA, which is more known as a provider of vital tech solutions for airlines. SITA's 'Health Protect' is still in its trial phase and, according to one of the key executives, it is vastly different from IATA's earlier announced 'Travel Pass' programme. IATA's Travel Pass is a digital health passport that lets passengers interact with the airline and airport authority well before they arrive for boarding. "In a way, instead of submitting