The International Air Transport Association (IATA) recently collaborated with numerous partners in the industry to test the first-ever fully integrated digital identify travel experience.
It was introduced for testing by passengers on a flight going from London Heathrow and landing at Rome Fiumicino via British Airways.
In a statement, IATA stated that this ground-breaking trial helped assess the future potential of the venture, which is seamlessly connected to every other stage of the travel process.
Consequently, biometric identification is a crucial component of the journey, which spreads from shopping for flights to landing.
The test
Through the digital experience, IATA was able to test the journey and focus on some key points for a future complete with a fully integrated travel adventure.
As a result, it hopes to promote the appeal of the digital travel adventure by offering personalized offers to the passengers.
By storing valuable information, such as that of a loyalty card, travelers can now have verifiable credentials present in the digital wallets of their smartphones.
This will also allow them to reap the benefits of tailored offers across all channels of shopping, thus enhancing the experience of ticket shopping and the convenience enjoyed by passengers.
Other benefits
As per IATA, the second aspect of a digital identity travel experience is all about streamlining the process of bookings.
Instead of depending on a bunch of documents, such as e-tickets and passenger name records, they can simply just pull out their verifiable credentials.
These credentials, which can easily be saved on a smartphone’s digital wallet, will act as a complete source of all travel information.
As a result, passengers do not require any unwieldy paperwork and can enhance the efficiency of their travel process.
An additional notable advancement that passengers can enjoy is the effortless and seamless process of checking travel requirements.
They can now swiftly assess the necessities of each travel document simply by sharing nationality data present in a digital passport, which is available on the digital wallet.
Thus, travelers will not have to undergo the hassle of going through several time-consuming manual checks when at the airport.
Moreover, they will be able to save time and effort and enjoy a seamless journey without being stopped.
Ready to Fly
With the digital test of the travel experience being conducted by IATA, the concept of Ready to Fly was introduced to the passengers with ease.
This will aid them in sharing their booking details and digital passport with the airline and receiving confirmation of seat assignment through text messages.
Consequently, the advancement in digital identity travel experiences reduces the need for inputting data manually, further boosting the ease of check-in procedures.
On this note, the Chief Information and Digital Officer of British Airways, Dirk John, said that it hopes to further innovate customer journeys.
It hoped to achieve its goal of automation by introducing biometric boarding on several flights earlier in the year, which turned out to be a huge success and resulted in positive customer feedback.
