Japan's ANA tests COVID-19 digital health passport

TOKYO, March 29 (Xinhua) -- All Nippon Airways Co. (ANA) on Monday conducted a trial of digital certificates for coronavirus test results and vaccination status at Haneda airport in Tokyo, as part of a global effort to make travel safer backed by the World Economic Forum.

The "CommonPass" app was used by two passengers in the trial who used their smartphones to show their negative COVID-19 test results.

The test on Monday was the first in Japan of a digital health passport and the app is one of a number being tested around the world as the global travel industry and authorities eye the digitalization of passengers' coronavirus test results and vaccination status to help the pandemic-battered industry to be rebooted.

"As the process went smoothly, I had more time and energy to spare," Ikuko Osato, a nurse from Fukushima Prefecture who participated in the test run as a volunteer, was quoted as saying at check-in counter for a flight departing for New York.

The developer of the "CommonPass" app, the Commons Project Foundation, said it "aims to launch the digital platform in countries worldwide for a more trustworthy model for validating the health status of incoming travelers."

Currently in many countries, the results of COVID-19 tests usually come in paper format and are not globally standardized.

"Our trials of the CommonPass Health application will help us to ensure that these procedures will enable us to simplify international travel while also protecting passenger privacy," ANA senior vice president for corporate planning, Juichi Hirasawa, said of the project.

Along with ANA, seven other carriers worldwide, including Japan Airlines, are also helping with the CommonPass digital certificate trials.