As travel aviation begins to bounce back after the initial COVID-19 shutdown, the Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) is calling on the aviation industry, regulators and health authorities around the world to accelerate development of standardized and internationally-accepted digital health certificates and to have them widely deployed within the next 12 months.

The FSF is concerned that as travel picks up, airlines, security personnel and immigration and border control agents are likely to be faced with a varied array of testing and vaccine documents to process. 

“The only way the industry is going to be able to move forward safely and in a manner that instills confidence in travelers, aviation industry personnel, regulators and health authorities is if all the stakeholders pull together and prioritize development and adoption of these tools,” said Capt. Conor Nolan, chair of the FSF's Board of Governors.

The FSF's “Guidance on Advancing COVID-19 Risk Mitigation in Air Travel” includes recommendations on ensuring passenger health safety for air travel. Development of the guidance material was informed by the Flight Safety Foundation’s Medical Advisory Committee.