SITA has launched its Health Protect solution that will help airports, airlines, governments and passengers to safely and securely share information on health tests or vaccinations needed during travel.
The solution has already been trialled by travelers to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and a new trial will soon commence at Milan Malpensa Airport, Italy.
As the ability for passengers to share vital health information, such as PCR test results or their vaccination history, with authorities becomes increasingly important in a bid to resume safe and secure travel, Health Protect will enable airlines and passengers to submit these required documents safely and securely in line with specific government requirements.
According to SITA, the solution can seamlessly integrate with multiple travel pass or ‘health passport’ schemes, bridging the gap between these schemes and aviation and border processes. Critically, by incorporating Advance Passenger Processing (APP), it enables authorities to make an informed decision whether a passenger can travel at the point of check-in, improving the safety of all passengers.
Passengers without the required documentation, or considered high risk, will be unable to check in for their flight, ensuring they do not travel to the airport. By facilitating the inclusion of health pass schemes into existing, proven and trusted passenger processing systems, Health Protect minimizes the operational and technical impact on carriers and ports, according to SITA.
At the airport, Health Protect also integrates with the existing airport passenger processing systems to verify the health status of the passenger at each point in the process using SITA Flex touchless passenger flow monitoring technology.
David Lavorel, CEO of airports and borders at SITA, said, “We’re excited for the potential of SITA Health Protect to bridge the gap between airlines resuming normal operations and governments’ strong focus on keeping control of Covid-19. Recovery from Covid-19 will take time and is complex but we believe that SITA can play a key role in enabling a safer, simpler travel experience for passengers.”
At the beginning of February, a small group of air travelers flying from Germany and Estonia to the UAE tested the health data platform and app SimplyGo in a live environment. As part of the trial project, SimplyGo partnered with SITA to make use of SITA Health Protect.
During the trial, travelers obtained a negative Covid-19 result via their SimplyGo app before traveling. The data was then securely stored on the SimplyGo platform to be accessed by airlines and border officials authorizing boarding of the plane and arrival at the destination country. Integration with the UAE government systems was made possible through the Advance Passenger Processing (APP) platform delivered by SITA.
SEA Milan Airports, operator of Italy’s second busiest airport, Milan Malpensa (MXP), is collaborating with SITA to pilot an innovative platform that digitizes declarations on Covid-19-tested flights and manages the testing process at MXP.
