Since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, travel-related formalities have been changing regularly. The presentation of a negative COVID test is now mandatory for most international trips, and checking these tests, often presented in paper format, is time-consuming.
To enhance its customers’ experience and smooth their journey through the airport, Air France today announced the launch of a program to test the “ICC AOKpass” solution, developed by MedAire/international SOS. ICC AOKpass is a mobile application available on smartphones, enabling passengers to securely upload the results of their COVID test carried out in a partner laboratory1. Once at the airport, passengers present their smartphone instead of a paper test. ICC AOKpass then verifies that the test submitted is valid and compliant with the regulations of the destination country via a network secured by blockchain technology.
Lasting four weeks, and carried out with the support of Paris Aéroport, This test will start on March 11, 2021 on all Air France flights departing from Paris-CDG to Pointe-à-Pitre (Guadeloupe) and Fort-de-France (Martinique). It will be carried out on a purely voluntary basis, in order to test the application in real-life conditions and gather feedback from test customers. Air France will share this feedback with the other airlines in the Skyteam alliance, which are currently testing different solutions for digitizing health documents.
In addition to testing the ICC AOKpass solution, Air France is doing its utmost to assist its customers and keep them informed in real time of changes in travel formalities. A dedicated website is available at airfrance.traveldoc.aero.
Since the beginning of the crisis, Air France has been applying the strictest sanitary measures and offering its customers total ticket flexibility, with the possibility of postponing or cancelling any trip planned before December 31, 2021, at no cost and with no justification. These measures are grouped together under the Air France Protect label, and are reviewed regularly to take account of changes in the situation. They recently earned Air France a 4-star rating in Skytrax’s COVID-19 Safety Rating.
Catherine Villar, Customer Experience Director – Air France, said: “Improving and simplifying the customer experience is a constant priority for Air France. The test of the ICC AOKpass solutionis fully in line with this framework and with the approach initiated by the introduction of the Air France Protect label. We are convinced that the changes we are all going through will have a lasting impact on travel, and we are committedto supporting all innovation projects that can help us meet these new challenges.
Sébastien Bedu, Product Manager – Airport Services for MedAire, the International SOS division specializing in support for the aviation and maritime industries, commented: “ We are pleased to support Air France in testing the ICCAOKpass solution.. We will do our utmost to ensure the success of this experiment in order to achieve the objective shared by the entire industry: to reopen the skies in complete safety.
1 AOKpass is a partner of numerous laboratories around the world, including the Cerballiance and Biogroup groups in France.
