Latin America and Caribbean must address urgent aviation issues - IATA

Foto: potowizard/123rf

By Frank Martin.

Futurologists affirm that the world will not be the same it was after the control of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In order to test the theory, they mention the health passport.

Since the worldwide epidemic broke out scientists and experts from the tourism industry have been looking for a solution to increase the health safety of international travel.

It is already news: the health passport arrives in Europe, and it is already moving through America including the Caribbean region.

January with its outbreaks in Europe and the advancement of vaccines, has been intense in terms of such the support of that kind of passport that would allow the long-awaited mobility between borders.

In the Caribbean for example, Cuba is demanding from travelers who arrive at its airports certificates of vaccination against Covid negative three days before.

This is an undeniable initiative able to protect tourists and the country.

Before the end of January, a month as hopeful as it is tense on coronavirus issues, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has recognized the health passport as a “digital solution.”

In Europe the first airlines to test this passport will be Etihad Airways and Emirates.

A pioneer of such solutions among the world’s rulers about that kind of document is the Greek Prime Minister, Kyruakos Mitsotakis.

Mitsotakis publicly called for the creation of a common European certificate of vaccination for passengers traveling within the European Union.

While waiting for undoubtedly effective vaccines that stop epidemics, the IATA Travel Pass seems a reality at least in the field of testing.

The certificate is described as a program for mobile devices in which passengers will be able to store their Covid-19 detection tests.

Even that document may include proof of having received a vaccine, all digital, without burdensome paper documents.

The European initiative may have inspired American Airlines to present its own mobile health certificate, as it calls it.

The AA, which has numerous routes to the Caribbean, one of the world’s most attractive tourist destinations, has titled its method VeriFLY.

That airline thus becomes the first in the United States to provide results of a negative test for coronavirus (COVID-19) and other complete documents required for international travel.

Based on the benefits advertised, VeryFLY airline helps clients understand and verify their travel requirements.

This kind of start of the health certificate is very valuable if one takes into account that the United States is the country most affected by Covid-19 in the world.

“We support the implementation of a global program that requires testing for Covid-19 for travelers to the United States, and we want to do everything we can to make the trip a seamless experience for customers,” the announcement says.

Jamaica already uses the system in the Caribbean, and other countries not mentioned are testing it.

Another commercial advice is the one that explains how this sanitary instrument is used.

“Using the VeriFLY app is simple,” explained a news outlet.

“After downloading the application from the iOS App Store or Google Play Store, customers create an account, enter their destination, and upload the required documentation, such as proof of a negative COVID-19 test,” he described

Those who support health certificates that are used as passports say that these will not disappear once the epidemic is under control.

The world has already changed during the fight against pandemic.

According to many experts, in the near and also distant future tourism will have to include within its travel and promotion system the means used in each destination for the safety of human health.

This already existed to some extent, but has now probably climbed to the top of the lists of demand for tourists from any country in the world.

The reason is that no one can be sure when another monstrous virus will appear suddenly. and apparently out of nowhere.

 

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