Aeromexico Implements a "Covid" Global Travel Pass
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Aeromexico Implements a "Covid" Global Travel Pass

Photo by:   Photo by Suhyeon Choi on Unsplash
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María Fernanda Barría By María Fernanda Barría | Junior Journalist and Industry Analyst - Fri, 06/18/2021 - 14:53

Aeromexico, Mexico's leading airline, is taking steps to assure the safety of passengers as well as reactivating the country's tourism industry by incorporating a travel pass, despite the FAA downgrading Mexico's air safety rating. 

Aeromexico has announced it has joined forces with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to implement the IATA Travel Pass pilot test to boost the travel industry. One of the many concerns governments have is the opening of their borders. For this reason, the first step to mitigate the risk of covid-19 is to have accurate information regarding the health status of passengers in order to achieve high safety standards. "The IATA Travel Pass trials are part of our digitalization strategy to stay ahead of the curve and continue offering a safe, agile and reliable travel experience. We will continue to implement all initiatives that allow us to incentivize travel recovery with modern and efficient tools," said Andrés Castañeda, Aeromexico's Executive Vice President of Digital and Customer Experience.

IATA's website explains that the Travel Pass is a mobile app that helps travelers store and manage their verified COVID-19 tests or vaccines. Due to the extensive testing and vaccine verifications, the app collects the information and verifies its legit authorization to handle data securely. "It is imperative to have reliable and secure solutions for health credential verification to meet government requirements, restore consumer confidence and achieve a sustainable industry recovery. The IATA Travel Pass gives assurance to governments that passengers meet sanitary requirements, streamlines immigration processes and simplifies the experience for travelers. This will allow aviation to reconnect the world's economies," said Peter Cerdá, IATA Regional Vice President for the Americas.

Aeromexico indicates that the app would simplify the customer experience. The pilot test will be available from June 21 this year on routes from Mexico City to Chicago and Madrid. 

In regards to Mexico's air safety downgrade, last month the FAA downgraded Mexico's air safety rating from Category 1 to Category 2, reporting Mexico does not meet the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) safety standards. Several institutions have warned about the situation, and such is the case of Mexico's National Air Chamber Association (CANAERO), which indicates that the decline could severely impact the local aviation industry, previously reported by MBN.  

Latin America's aviation could take at least six years to recover from the pandemic. Other countries expect to take no more than four years to reach normal levels. The consequences of this slow recovery could severely hurt the economy of the aviation and tourism industry. MBN reported that in the first four months of 2019, 46.425 million passengers boarded Mexican airlines and 21.841 million traveled in foreign ones. For the same period in 2021, only 13.588 million passengers flew in domestic carriers and 5.887 million in foreign ones.

Photo by:   Photo by Suhyeon Choi on Unsplash

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