IATA and BA launch their first fully integrated digital identify travel experience

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By Matthew Griffin Security and Privacy 19th July 2024

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF

Physical passports belong in yesteryear, and around the world organisations are trying to create a hastle free stop free experience for airline passengers.

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The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has partnered with British Airways to trial what it says was the “first integrated shopping to travel journey using digital identity.” Customers on a BA flight between London Heathrow and Rome Fiumicino were able to make use of technology including digital wallets, digital passports, and biometric gates to travel through the airport.

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The “Proof of Concept” trial included travel requirements being checked through the digital passport before the passenger arrived at the airport, Ready-to-Fly confirmation and seat assignment messages being sent by BA to the traveller, and the use of biometric data to travel through security, into lounges and onto the aircraft.

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Passengers were also able to share their loyalty card data (stored as a verifiable credential in their smart phone’s digital wallet), allowing them to receive personalised offers.

A video explaining more about the trial can be seen below.

The trial follows IATA’s publication of ‘Recommended Practice on Digitalization of Admissibility’ last year – industry standards which aim to remove the need for stops at the check-in desk or boarding gate for document checks.

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Nick Careen, IATA’s senior vice president for operations, safety and security said that while technology exists to allow for a fully integrated digital identity travel experience at each stage of the journey, “linking these steps together has proven challenging”.

See the tech in action.

The association collaborated with a total of 11 partners on the trial, including Accenture, Amadeus, Australian Border Force, AWS, Branchspace, British Airways, IDnow, Aeroporti di Roma, SICPA, Trip.com, and Verchaska.

“In future, a smart phone storing a digital wallet that is loaded with your digital passport, loyalty cards and other verifiable travel credential, is all that will be needed to travel,” said

“Achieving that reality needs the kind of cooperation that we have demonstrated today with 11 companies coming together to facilitate the first fully integrated digital journey.

“Success, of course, is underpinned by interoperability and global standards – so the advantage of the digital travel conveniences are available to travellers throughout their journey and wherever it may take them.”

Matthew Griffin / About Author

Matthew Griffin, multi-award winning Futurist and named Futurist of the Year 2024, has been described as a "Walking encyclopaedia of the future" by NASA and a futurist polymath. One of the world's most renowned futurists and strategic foresight experts Matthew is the 15 times author of the blockbuster "Codex of the Future" series, and is the Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm working across the next 50 years, XPotential University, the world's first free futures and foresight university, and the World Futures Forum which works with the United Nations to solve the worlds greatest challenges. Matthew is an in demand international keynote, acclaimed university lecturer and mentor, and host of the hit Fanatical Futurist podcast.

A rare talent in his past Matthew helped build and run several multi-billion dollar business units for Atos, Dell-EMC, and IBM, and his ability to identify, track, and explain the impacts of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends on global business, culture, and society has earned him a powerful reputation and a roster of clients that include royal households, world leaders, G7, G20, and G77+ governments, and many of the world's most respected brands including ABB, Accenture, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi Group, Coca Cola, Dentons, Deloitte, Disney, Dow, EY, KPMG, Lego, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, T-Mobile, UBS, VISA, and many others. He was also the only futurist invited to talk at the UN COP28 held in Dubai alongside world leaders.

Regularly featured in the global media including the AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, Forbes, Khaleej Times, Telegraph, TIME, ViacomCBS, WIRED, and the WSJ, Matthews mission is to help organisations create a fair and sustainable future whose benefits are shared by everyone irrespective of their ability, background, or circumstances.