Qantas sets out terms of international travel

Qantas has laid out what will be required of passengers travelling overseas when borders finally reopen.

Qantas and Jetstar passengers will need a digital health pass to travel overseas, to verify their Covid vaccination status and negative test result. Picture: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

Passengers travelling overseas with Qantas or Jetstar when international borders reopen will be required to carry a new “digital health pass” with information about Covid tests and vaccination status.

A day after Qantas appealed to the federal government to mandate Covid vaccinations for aviation workers, the airline has revealed what will be required of travellers in future.

The travel pass developed by the International Air Transport Association has been trialled by Qantas on overseas repatriation flights this year and is considered the most secure and convenient way to verify a passenger’s Covid status.

Delivered in the form of a free smart phone app, the pass allows vaccine certificates and proof of a negative Covid test from a certified testing lab to be uploaded before a flight.

The pass also ensures the passenger’s health information meets the requirements of the country to which they are travelling, and provides clearance to board the flight.

Qantas group chief customer officer Steph Tully said the digital health pass would be the key to getting international flights back into the air, and the airline’s employees back to work.

“Many governments are already requiring proof of vaccine or a negative Covid test result for international travel,” said Ms Tully.

“Even if it wasn’t a government requirement, Qantas has always been a leader in safety and we have a responsibility to our customers and crew.

“A digital health pass will connect customers with Covid testing facilities, health authorities and airlines, and ultimately enable the opening of more travel bubbles and borders.”

Ready for takeoff. But passengers flying overseas with Qantas will be required to have a digital pass before the wheels leave the ground. Picture: Getty Images

Already a number of countries where Qantas and Jetstar operate have announced requirements of either a proof of vaccine or negative Covid test result to enter without quarantine, including the UK, the US and Canada.

Ms Tully said final development work was underway to ensure the pass was ready when international flights resumed.

“We’re working closely with IATA to develop their travel pass to make the process as seamless as possible for Qantas and Jetstar customers as international borders start to re-open,” she said.

IATA senior vice president for operations, safety and security Nick Careen welcomed the Qantas Group’s decision to use the travel pass.

“IATA Travel Pass delivers an advantage over other solutions in that the app enables travellers to create a digital ID derived from a government issued document such as a passport,” Mr Careen said.

“This means that airlines and governments can have full confidence in the test/vaccine results both from a content and identity perspective. Being able to validate the vaccination status of Australians returning from overseas is critical to enable Australia’s four-phase national Covid response plan announced earlier this month.”

Qantas and Jetstar have previously announced plans to resume regular international flights from mid-December but doubt remains over whether borders will reopen by then.

The federal budget indicated the government did not expect Australia to allow international travel until mid-2022.