IATA moves a step closer towards delivering fully digital travel experience: Here’s all you need to know

Thursday, October 31, 2024

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has moved a step closer to delivering a fully digital travel experience by successfully completing a proof-of-concept (PoC) involving digital wallets and biometric identification.

This innovative project, conducted with two passengers on a round-trip between Hong Kong and Tokyo, highlights the potential for seamless, paperless travel, where biometric and digital identity solutions streamline airport processes from check-in to boarding.

In collaboration with Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong International Airport, Narita International Airport, and partners including Branchspace, Facephi, NEC, Neoke, Northern Block, and SICPA, IATA’s live PoC journey validated the integration of seven digital credentials: ePassport, live biometric image, visa, company ID, frequent flyer membership, order, and boarding pass.

Through this digital framework, passengers were able to navigate all airport checkpoints without the need to present physical documents, underscoring the capabilities of IATA’s One ID standards and Modern Airline Retailing initiative to drive a fully digital, secure, and efficient travel experience.

PoC Highlights: Digital Identity and Biometric-Driven Air Travel

The successful PoC is a key milestone in IATA’s vision to enable a secure and personalized travel journey. Key achievements from the pilot include:

Verifiable Credentials (VCs): This PoC used VCs for live biometric and boarding pass verification, establishing that digitalized identity documents can provide a paperless and streamlined process across airport functions. Visa VCs were also tested to confirm successful, secure, digital document verification.

Interoperability Across Platforms: With travelers using multiple VC issuers, wallets, and verifiers across Hong Kong and Tokyo’s Narita airports, the PoC demonstrated the flexibility of these systems to function across jurisdictions and various airport stages.

Trusted Issuer Registry: By verifying the credentials’ trusted origins, this registry system supports an open ecosystem of public and private issuers, ensuring wide-scale reliability and adoption potential.

Nick Careen, IATA’s Senior Vice President for Operations, Safety, and Security, commented on the implications: “The seamless, fully digital travel experience powered by digital identity and biometrics has moved from theory to proven reality.

With One ID standards in place and the advancement of Modern Airline Retailing, a fully digital travel experience could be available for global travelers in the near future.”

Next Steps for a Global Digital Travel Solution

The success of the HKG-NRT PoC underscores the readiness of IATA’s Data and Technology Hub, which developed this project, to support the global transition toward digital travel.

As governments worldwide move towards adopting digital travel credentials in line with ICAO standards—such as Europe’s planned Digital Identity Wallets by 2027—the industry is poised to generate significant value from digitalization, creating a faster, more efficient, and personalized travel experience for all passengers.

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