A mobile-phone app that shows travelers to be Covid-free will begin trials this month, a potential step toward speeding the resumption of long-haul flights.
The CommonPass application will be tested on United Airlines services between Newark and London and Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. trips from Hong Kong to Singapore, the World Economic Forum, which backs the plan, said Wednesday.
Volunteers must take a coronavirus test at a certified lab and upload results onto their phones, with the app generating a barcode to show that they’re disease-free. Authorities including U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will observe the process.
International travel has barely revived from a total lockdown as national restrictions and quarantines continue to limit services and put people off flying. The CommonPass app could help form the basis of a standardized system to overcome those curbs, according to the WEF, after slow progress with airport testing and so-called travel corridors aimed at restarting flights.
The WEF said it developed the app alongside the Commons Project Foundation, a non-profit public trust.
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