Air France’s ICC AOKpass uses blockchain technology to secure the transmission of Covid test results between labs and border security, to "improve...customers' experience and streamline their time at the airport", the company said in a statement.
“It’s maybe a foreshadowing or an anticipation…of what could be a future travel pass or health passport,” said junior transport minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari on Thursday.
Air France is testing the pass for a month, limited to flights between Paris and the French Antilles. Other carriers, like British Airways and American Airlines, have introduced certificates or applications to store and manage Covid tests or vaccines.
Djebbari said Air France is testing to see how the digital passport could reduce airport wait times. But it has nothing to do with whether Covid vaccinations will be required for boarding – a “discussion that has not been had yet on the political level”.
Vaccine passport scepticism
France is wary of so-called vaccine passports, because banning unvaccinated people from travelling would create inequalities, as not everyone in France will have access to vaccines before the end of the summer at the earliest, and access to vaccines remains limited in most other countries.
There are also security and privacy concerns over smartphone apps and digital certificates using personal medical data. France’s privacy watchdog, the Cnil has approved an official database of people who have been vaccinated, but it said it will need to revisit the question if the database were to be used for travel documents.
China launches virus passport
China on Monday launched what is being called the world’s first virus passport, a digital certificate showing a person’s vaccine status and Covid test results.
A programme on the Chinese social media platform WeChat provides an encrypted QR code that gives access to a person’s health information.
The foreign ministry said the pass is meant to "to help promote world economic recovery and facilitate cross-border travel". But it is unclear how it will be used, as it is not mandatory, it is only available to Chinese citizens, and it has not been recognised by other countries.
Need for guidelines
The European Union is working on a vaccine "green pass", that would allow citizens to travel between member countries and abroad, but there is currently no standard format or encryption technology, and airlines in particular are calling for guidelines.
The International Civil Aviation Organization, ICAO, the United Nations agency that sets global aviation standards, is expected to announce some guidelines by the end of the week.
Documents and digital certificates need to be fraud-proof, as airports have already seen evidence of fake Covid test results.
One option is for governments to certify data transmitted from labs showing negative test results and provide some kind of encrypted bar code to be scanned at the airport.
Questions remain about security and the use of personal information, and some countries may not have the capacity to issue large volumes of secure passes within the short timeframes required for Covid tests, which are usually done within 72 to 48-hours of travel.
Non-travel passes
Passes and certificates are also being considered to allow people to engage in other activities, besides travel.
French government spokesman Gabriel Attal told reporters after a cabinet meeting on Wednesday that authorities were working on a health pass that would include Covid antibody or negative test results, to allow people to eat in restaurants or access other venues like theatres or concert halls.
President Emmanuel Macron said that while he disagrees with vaccination passports for travel, he is in favour of such a localised pass, to allow places to reopen.
In China, QR codes with vaccine and Covid test results are already being used to secure access to domestic transport and many public spaces.
(with wires)
