IndiGo has partnered with International Air Transport Association (IATA) to launch a pilot project for IATA Travel Pass, which will enable passengers to create a ‘digital passport’ to verify their pre-travel test or vaccination status to meet the SOPs of the destination. The IATA Travel Pass will be a mobile app to help passengers easily and securely manage their travel in line with government requirements for COVID-19 tests or vaccines.
The pilot project will begin in the country from August 20. The passengers will be able to share the test and vaccination certificates with authorities as well as airlines to facilitate travel, the airline said in a statement on Tuesday.
The IATA Travel Pass will also enable authorised labs and test centres to securely send test results or vaccination certificates to passengers, the airline noted. Ronojoy Dutta, chief executive officer, IndiGo said, Today, most countries have implemented protocols for travellers across the globe and this IATA Travel Pass will simplify and digitise the requisite passenger information for respective countries.” “We are certain that our collaboration with IATA on this innovation will prove to be a stepping-stone towards international air travel recovery, while providing a hassle-free experience to our customers,” he said.
Scheduled international passenger flights have been suspended in India since March 23 last year due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, special international passenger flights have been operating from India under air bubble arrangements formed with around 27 countries since July last year.
IndiGo has emerged as one of the world’s biggest airlines by capacity, aided by a swift recovery in the domestic aviation market to nearly 80% of pre-pandemic levels and the financial strength to boost market share as rivals struggle.
The airline is now the world’s seventh biggest by capacity and the largest outside the United States and China, according to data firm OAG. It is a rare bright spot in a battered global aviation industry, providing a lifeline to squeezed lessors and aircraft manufacturers by paying bills on time and in full.
IndiGo took 44 planes from Airbus SE last year – the most of any customer and topping Delta Air Lines Inc and China Southern Airlines Co Ltd – as it replaced older planes with more fuel-efficient newer models. It is also gearing up to expand its fleet further from 2023.
With a 52% domestic market share in 2020 versus 47% in 2019, and profitability in sight after a loss last fiscal year, IndiGo is expanding its reach to smaller Indian cities such as Ranchi, Patna and Gorakhpur to replace a fall in business travel on larger routes like New Delhi-Mumbai, CEO Ronojoy Dutta told Reuters.
It is also betting that faster growth and higher margins will come from non-stop flights to international destinations like Moscow, Cairo and Manila which it can reach with its narrowbody planes, eliminating the need to complicate its fleet with widebody aircraft.
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