SINGAPORE, 17 August 2021: Affinidi, a Singapore-based technology company, has partnered with Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, to advance the aviation industry’s ability to read, authenticate and validate Covie-19 test results digitally.
Currently, travellers are required to book pre-departure tests at accredited healthcare institutions and present the health reports with negative test results to airlines and immigration authorities before they can board their flights. However, the lack of a global standard for digital health credentials impedes the verification process.
Affinidi’s goal is to enhance its travel verification and interoperable solution that reads and authenticates various verifiable QR codes on health reports in a confidential manner, regardless of the issuing authority and format, allowing airlines to process health credentials more seamlessly.
Since 27 March this year, Etihad has been trialling Affinidi’s travel verification solution to authenticate the digital health credentials of passengers travelling from Singapore to Abu Dhabi.
Through this partnership, Etihad became the first airline to trial Affinidi’s Healthcare Network Assessment (HNA) programme in Bahrain, Cairo, Maldives, Manila, and Jakarta. The airline is working with Affinidi to identify the types of pre-departure test results issued by healthcare providers as well as overall valid scan rates of QR codes on health reports when passengers check-in at the airports.
The assessment has captured over 9,000 guest check-ins and identified 141 healthcare labs across five markets, and the data collected will support Affinidi in identifying key healthcare providers to onboard onto its safe travel ecosystem so that they may be able to integrate and authenticate health reports issued by these providers. This will, in turn, increase the pool of health reports that airlines can digitally verify while guarding against fraudulent reports and improving the airlines’ ability to process and validate health reports more efficiently.
Over the coming months, Etihad will continue to extend the Affinidi Healthcare Network Assessment across more destinations in its network.
