Covid Australia: Qantas passengers will have to show vaccination and negative test results via app

Qantas passengers will soon have to disclose their medical history through a travel app which will display their immunisation records and Covid test results. 

The airline announced on Thursday it was planning for international travel to return  in October 2021 after posting half-year losses of more than $1billion.

The national carrier meanwhile is already testing the digitalised medical record apps on crew.

Customers will have to link a digital health wallet to their passport, which the company said would resemble the existing New South Wales Covid app.

Australians coming home from overseas can use the ‘vaccine passports’ – which are at this stage optional – from next week. 

Qantas passengers will have to disclose their medical history through a travel app which will display their immunisation records and Covid test results. Pictured: CommonPass – which is one of the options Qantas is trialling

The airline announced international travel might return in October 2021 – and that they are already testing the digitalised medical record apps on crew. Pictured: Qantas flight QF10 heading to Perth in 2018

The digital wallet will show airline staff the results of Covid tests and whether or not passengers have been immunised against the virus, 7News reported. 

‘It will be in an app on your phone, that you can present along with your travel documentation that shows proof of vaccination,’ Qantas Chief Financial Officer Vanessa Hudson said.

‘If you had required to have a COVID test before travel [it will show you] the results of that test.’  

The company is testing two different options, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Travel Pass and CommonPass app. 

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said the programs were still being developed and may be used for all passengers depending on government vaccine policy.  

‘[The apps will be used] when the borders open up and we have the ability to know who’s been vaccinated, who’s been tested and whatever requirements the governments put into place,’ he said on Thursday. 

Resuming international flights can’t come soon enough for the Flying Kangaroo as it lost just over a billion dollars in six months.  

Customers will have to link a digital health wallet to their passport, which the company said would resemble the existing New South Wales Covid app. Pictured: A passenger boards an Emirates flight in Sydney International airport 

Australian’s coming home from overseas will be able use the ‘vaccine passports’ from next week on a voluntary basis. Pictured: Qantas is trialing the CommonPass app

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said he foresees international travel resuming at the end of October

The airline suffered a $1.03 billion loss and $6.9 billion drop in revenue, down 75 per cent on the previous year, noting the half-year results covered Victoria’s extended Covid lockdown and nationwide border closures. 

About 5,300 staff were laid off, with $284 million in redundancies paid out, and the airline plans to slash another 1,200 jobs by the end of June.  

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said he foresees international travel resuming at the end of October, in-line with the date for Australia’s vaccine rollout to be effectively complete.

‘Our priorities remain the safety of everyone who travels with us, getting as many people back to work as possible and generating positive cash flow to repair the balance sheet,’ he said.

‘The Covid vaccine rollout in Australia will take time, but the fact it’s underway gives us more certainty.

‘More certainty that domestic borders can stay open because frontline and quarantine workers will be vaccinated in a matter of weeks.

‘And more certainty that international borders can open when the nationwide rollout is effectively complete by the end of October.’