IATA: trials prove contactless travel with digital identity works
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has published the results of several Proof of Concept pilot projects on digital identity, carried out with the support of airlines, airports, technology companies and governments across Europe and Asia-Pacific. According to IATA, the trials show that contactless international travel based on biometrics and digital identity, instead of paper documents, is already technically achievable today.
The projects were developed under the IATA Strategic Partnerships Program and tested how digital identity stored in mobile wallets, combined with biometric verification, can replace repeated checks of paper documents throughout a passenger's journey.
IATA said the trials also showed that individual systems are now sufficiently interoperable to support contactless journeys even when multiple carriers and different digital wallets are involved – including Digital ID in Apple Wallet for holders of US passports, Google ID Pass for holders of British and US passports, and national programs such as India's Digi Yatra.
The pilot projects were designed in line with the IATA Contactless Travel Directory, the One ID standards, and international standards from ISO, OpenID and W3C.
IATA Director General Willie Walsh said the trials demonstrated that digital identity can work safely and efficiently for international travel. For passengers to truly benefit, he said, governments need to speed up the issuance and acceptance of so-called Digital Travel Credentials (DTC) – secure digital versions of passports.
What the trials proved
- Digital identity in wallets, whether global or national, works in real airline operations.
- With passenger consent, digital identity data can be shared securely before travel, enabling checks in advance and reducing repeated document presentation.
- Biometric verification can replace manual checks of paper documents at airport checkpoints.
- A single digital identity can be reused throughout an entire journey, enabling a contactless "tap-and-go" experience.
- Interoperability works across borders too – airline, airport and government systems can work together.
According to IATA, the trials confirmed that passengers can share only the data actually needed for their trip, can register remotely for a digital identity system, and can verify themselves biometrically at airport checkpoints – without having to physically present a passport or boarding pass.
Tasks for governments
- Prepare to issue: create the legal, operational and technical conditions for issuing Digital Travel Credentials as part of national digital identity programs.
- Be ready to accept: ensure border, visa and travel authorization systems can verify DTCs issued by other states.
- Plan for global scale: work with industry, other governments and international organizations on interoperable use of DTCs worldwide.
Walsh added that secure digital passports will make travel both more efficient and more secure, since sharing identity in advance allows checks to be carried out earlier and cuts queues at airports. He said industry cooperation has shown that digital identity works in practice, and the next step is for governments to build frameworks to integrate it into global travel processes.
Three specific scenarios were tested. Japan Airlines trialed the Tokyo Haneda – Hong Kong – European airport route, where passengers shared their identity in advance via digital wallets for biometric checks at departure and during transfer, with a "tap-and-go" solution used at the European airport. Air New Zealand tested the Auckland – Hong Kong route, where identity shared through the airline's digital wallet at booking and check-in enabled remote biometric registration and contactless passage through the airport and customs. IndiGo, at Bangalore International Airport, tested cooperation between various digital identity providers, including the national Digi Yatra program, within a single journey from airport entry to boarding.
Besides the airlines and airports mentioned, the pilot projects also involved the digital wallets Air New Zealand Wallet, Apple Wallet, Digi Yatra, Face Express by NEC, Google Wallet, the open-source solution Multipaz and SITA Wallet, as well as technology partners Amadeus, Branchspace, Hopae, NEC, SICPA and SITA, all under the auspices of the IATA Contactless Travel Directory.
According to IATA, the tested solutions are moving toward alignment with ICAO's Digital Travel Credential framework. The process used involved securely reading passport data from a physical document, storing it in a mobile wallet, and linking it to the passenger through biometric verification. IATA said government-issued DTCs delivered directly to a passenger's device are the next step toward scaling secure, interoperable digital identity for global travel, with paper documents remaining available as an alternative to ensure accessibility for all passengers.
Passengers interested in the development of contactless check-in can follow Japan Airlines (JL), Air New Zealand (NZ) and IndiGo (6E), as well as the airports involved in the pilot projects described, on map.flights.