Gulf carriers Etihad and Emirates will be among the first users of the International Air Transport Association’s Travel Pass digital health passport, the association announced.

Etihad, which last summer implemented mandatory Covid-19 testing for passengers flying to or transferring through Abu Dhabi, will use IATA Travel Pass to receive passengers’ Covid-19 test results and verify that they are eligible to travel. The carrier expects to offer Travel Pass on select routes sometime during the current quarter with further expansion to more routes if successful.

Emirates plans to begin its first phase with the app in April, when travelers from Dubai will be able to share Covid-19 testing status in the app prior to departure. The app will then auto-populate those details in Emirates’ check-in system.

IATA has designed Travel Pass, one of several digital health passport systems in various stages of development, to consist of four independent modules that cover destination entry requirements, facilities that can conduct tests or provide vaccines, the ability to upload passenger or testing vaccine information and a digital identity component. Airlines will be able to use the modules together as a single solution or as individual components to complement other tools.