PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Air Caraïbes and French bee, part of Groupe Dubreuil, have announced the launch of a new pilot of ICC AOKpass, the blockchain based digital health certificate supported by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and global industry leaders in health and certification services, International SOS and SGS Group. Using the app, which is purpose-built to be interoperable with all other systems, travellers on specified routes will be able to verify their COVID-19 test results with the airlines without breaching the privacy of their personal health data.
The pilots will include Paris airport (Orly) departures to the French Overseas Territories (Guadeloupe, Martinique, Guyana, La Réunion and Tahiti) for Air Caraïbes and French bee. It will be rolled out to passengers from the beginning of March.
Muriel Assouline, Managing Director at French bee, and Tamara Primakoff, DGA, for Air Caraïbes, said, “Passengers are looking for a smooth return to travel, where they can be as close to the turn-up and fly experience that they had prior to the pandemic and in a safest way possible. We are highly committed to achieving this and piloting ICC AOKpass will help us to enable this process for passengers, with a view to further roll-out on successful completion. The pilot alone will benefit the passengers who have previously been regular flyers on these popular routes each week.”
Bill Dolny, CEO of MedAire, the International SOS company specialising in health and security services for the aviation industry, continued, “The return to air travel needs to be sustainable, providing passengers, airlines and airports with assurity of health and safety based in an agreed verification process of COVID testing. We have been actively supporting Airports and Airlines around the world in restarting travel in a safe and secure way since the start of the COVID outbreak. We are pleased to have this opportunity to support Air Caraïbes and French bee in supporting its passengers.”
Under current regulations, travellers arriving in French Overseas Territories, are required to take a test for COVID-19 (PCR) 72hrs prior to departure. Under the pilot, passengers are able to store their PCR test results digitally on their mobile devices for later verification at the airport. The ICC AOKpass management system completes this verification using a global, incorruptible blockchain-based network – ensuring all test results are genuine, valid, and in line with government regulations.
John W.H. Denton AO, ICC Secretary General, added, “While vaccines are a welcome measure, they are by no means a silver bullet solution to ending the pandemic. The ICC AOKPass testing and contact tracing solution, from a trusted provider, is working to advance the global recovery, by creating an environment of confidence for people to travel, while also continuing to protect lives and livelihoods. This is an efficient alternative to the perpetual cycle of border closures and long quarantine periods that we are currently enduring.”
ICC AOK Pass has processed hundreds of health passes for airlines and airports since September 2020. It is currently being piloted across the world, including a successful large-scale pilot on Etihad flights from Paris to Abu Dhabi and Pakistan to Abu Dhabi. Also, nearly 130 airports in 18 countries are ready to deploy ICC AOKpass pilots with airlines. This includes ADP Group, TAV and Aeroporti di Roma.
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