KUALA LUMPUR: The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has announced that Etihad Airways, Jazeera Airways, Jetstar, Qantas, Qatar Airways and Royal Jordanian will implement the IATA Travel Pass app in a phased rollout across the airlines' networks.

In a statement, IATA said these six airlines joined Emirates Airline as implementation pioneers of this mobile app that could receive and verify a range of COVID-19 test results and digital vaccines certificates.

IATA director general Willie Walsh said the travel pass was now entering the operational phase after months of testing.

"The app has proven itself to be an effective tool to manage the complex mess of travel health credentials that governments require.

"And it's a great vote of confidence that some of the world's best known airline brands will be making it available to their customers over the coming months," he said.

Currently vaccine certificates from 52 countries, which represent the source of 56 per cent of global air travel, can be managed using the app.

IATA said this would increase to 74 countries, representing 85 per cent of global traffic, by the end of November.

"IATA Travel Pass, a digitalised solution to manage the paperwork of COVID-19 travel health credentials, is expected to play a key role in the aviation industry's recovery from the impact of COVID-19," it added.

-- BERNAMA