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RwandAir Becomes the First African Airline To Trial IATA Travel Pass

A RwandAir A330 (Photo: Wikimedia Commons | Jeroen Stroes Aviation Photography)

RwandAir becomes the first African airline to trial the IATA Travel Pass to ensure safe and seamless International connectivity, beginning a three-week trial plan in April for customers traveling between Kigali, Rwanda and Nairobi, Kenya.

IATA Travel Pass is a digital application with the sole purpose to help passengers verify they comply with COVID-19 test or vaccine travel requirements securely and in turn help in giving governments the confidence to reopen borders.

Developed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the trade association for the world’s airlines, the platform is designed to be incorporated into airlines’ apps, so flyers easily understand what they need before they fly.

The travel app has a range of features, including a registry of testing centers and labs at the departure and/or arrival location which can conduct COVID-19 tests by the type of test required for the journey.

Yvonne Manzi Makolo, CEO of RwandAir, said, “RwandAir is proud to be the first African airline to trial IATA Travel Pass, which could reinforce all the health and safety measures and protocols which we have put in place to restore customer confidence to fly once more. We are incredibly proud to be part of IATA’s Industry Advisory Panel, to ensure we guide the technology development in a way that covers the unique requirements of our passenger profile.

“IATA’s innovative solution simplifies and digitally transmits the information required by countries and governments around the world into our airline systems, securely and efficiently,” he continued.

“Travel Pass will make it easy for our customers to resume flying – and just as easy for RwandAir, and airlines around the world, to accept them.”

Alexandre de Juniac, IATA Director General and CEO, said, “RwandAir is showing its industry leadership in Africa by becoming the first airline on the continent to trial IATA Travel Pass. RwandAir has long used IATA products as the most reliable source of information on entry requirements. This trial will build on that history of working in partnership and takes us a step further in the context of COVID-19. IATA Travel Pass will give governments the confidence to re-open their borders knowing that arriving passengers are in full compliance with any testing or vaccination requirements.”

RwandAir customers participating in the trial will create a ‘digital passport’ which verifies that their pre-travel COVID-19 test or vaccination meets the requirements of the destination they are travelling to.

The flyers will also be able to safely and securely share their test and vaccination certificates with participating authorities and airlines around the world to ensure smooth and seamless travel.

RwandAir joins other airlines trialling the pass, including Etihad, Emirates, Qatar Airways, Copa Airlines and Air New Zealand.

Victor Shalton

Author

  • Victor Shalton

    Born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya, Victor’s love for aviation goes way back to when he was 11-years-old. Living close to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, he developed a love for planes and he even recalls aspiring to be a future airline executive for Kenya Airways. He also has a passion in the arts and loves writing and had his own aviation blog prior to joining AirlineGeeks. He is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in business administration at DeKUT and aspiring to make a career in a more aviation-related course.

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