The Commons Project Foundation and executives from the
Internova Travel Group (formerly Travel Leaders Group) have this week carried out a
successful trial of the CommonPass digital health passport on a
transatlantic flight.
Internova CEO JD O＊Hara and Jason Oshiokpekhai, managing director
of the Global Travel Collection, were among executives who downloaded the CommonPass
app, answered screening questions and took a Covid-19 test at Heathrow airport＊s
new testing facility on 21 October. A negative test result generated a digital
health pass via a QR code, which allowed them to board United Airlines flight
15 to Newark Liberty in New York.
Internova has been working closely with The Commons Project,
a non-profit organisation aimed at sharing the benefits of technology for the
common good, and the World Economic Forum to find a long-term solution to
replace travel bans and quarantines with the ability to verify individual
health and test result data while maintaining privacy standards.
※The ability to verify health information in a secure,
verified manner will allow countries and regions to open borders and restart
the travel industry along with the economic activity that comes with it,§ said
O＊Hara. ※This CommonPass pilot demonstrates that we have a means of enabling
safer cross-border travel by giving both travellers and governments confidence
in the Covid-19 status of every traveller.§
O＊Hara added, ※I consider the trial a resounding success and
feel sure that travellers will soon have the confidence to get back in the air
in a safe and secure manner.§
Paul Meyer, CEO at the Commons Project, stated, ※The goal of
the trials is to replicate the full traveller experience of taking a test for Covid-19
prior to departure, uploading the result to their phones, and demonstrating
their compliance with entry requirements at their departure and destination
airports. The digital health pass allows countries and regions seeking ways to
＆thoughtfully reopen＊ their borders an alternative to travel bans and
quarantines.§
※Without the ability to trust Covid-19 tests 每 and
eventually vaccine records 每 across international borders, many countries will
feel compelled to retain full travel bans and mandatory quarantines for as long
as the pandemic persists,§ said Dr Bradley Perkins, chief medical officer of
The Commons Project and former chief strategy & innovation officer at the US
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ※With trusted individual health
data, countries can implement more nuanced health screening requirements for
entry.§
All those involved in the trial say they adhered to all entry and testing rules.