Russia may create digital travel card for international flights in EAEU, says source

Russia may create a digital travel pass - a mobile application for international flights within the EAEU to accelerate the recovery of air transportation after the market collapse due to the pandemic. The Russian Ministry of Transport is discussing the measure with airlines, a source in one of the Russian airlines told TASS.

At the same time, the issue of accelerating the implementation of the digital IATA Travel Pass, which is already operating on some air routes abroad, is also being discussed.

"Russia can create a digital travel pass for international air travel within the EAEU. The Ministry of Transport is discussing this issue with airlines. In particular, launching a separate application or accelerating the use of the IATA Travel Pass is being discussed. The goal is to speed up restoration of international air transportation as much as possible, to stimulate other countries to open bilateral traffic, partially or completely limited due to the coronavirus pandemic," the source told TASS.

In late December 2019, Chinese officials informed the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus - named COVID-19 by the WHO - have been reported in every corner of the globe, including Russia. On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.