{"id":856251,"date":"2026-04-08T11:10:33","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T09:10:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=856251"},"modified":"2026-04-08T11:10:37","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T09:10:37","slug":"say-goodbye-to-passports-and-boarding-passes-at-airports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/856251\/say-goodbye-to-passports-and-boarding-passes-at-airports\/","title":{"rendered":"Say goodbye to passports and boarding passes at airports"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

South Africans and other people around the world could soon travel through airports without needing a physical passport or boarding pass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which has published the results of several digital identity Proofs of Concept (PoCs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These PoCs were conducted with airlines, airports, governments and technology providers across Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trials showed that contactless, biometric-enabled international travel is already technically possible and no longer a futuristic concept.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The IATA explained that travellers can use a secure digital version of their passport stored on their smartphone, while facial recognition or other biometric checks verify their identity as they move through the airport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This means passengers may no longer need to repeatedly present paper documents at different points in their journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to IATA, the tests showed that digital identity systems can already support seamless journeys, even when multiple airlines and different digital identity wallets are involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These included solutions such as Digital ID in Apple Wallet for US passport holders, Google ID Pass for UK and US passport holders, and national systems such as India\u2019s Digi Yatra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The PoCs were built around IATA\u2019s One ID standards, its Contactless Travel Directory, and international standards developed by ISO, OpenID and W3C.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have proven that digital identity for international travel works securely and efficiently,\u201d said Willie Walsh, IATA\u2019s Director General.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor travellers to benefit from this important modernisation, governments must accelerate efforts to issue and accept Digital Travel Credentials (DTCs)\u2014secure digital versions of passports.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that the benefits would be significant, and said the result would be \u201cstronger security, smoother journeys, and greater efficiency\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trials also showed that passengers could securely share only the information required for travel in advance, with their consent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This allows checks to be completed before they even arrive at the airport. This could help cut queues and reduce the need for repeated document inspections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Governments can begin putting in place frameworks to adopt DTCs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Biometric verification was also shown to be capable of replacing manual checks at airport touchpoints, creating what IATA describes as a seamless \u201ctap-and-go\u201d experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walsh said secure digital passports would make travel more secure and more efficient, no matter where they travel to or from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy sharing identity data in advance, checks can be completed earlier, reducing the need for document checks at airports and cutting queues,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIndustry collaboration has shown digital identity works in practice. The next step is for governments to put the frameworks in place to integrate digital identity into global travel processes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The push toward digital travel documents follows proposals made last year by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking to 702 last year<\/strong><\/a>, Andy Smith, director of industry and innovation at SITA, said the technology is now within reach. \u201cIt\u2019s a very exciting journey and one we\u2019ve been on for a while,\u201d said Smith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhere we\u2019re getting to now is the ability for travellers to get a very positive idea that they are going to be able to travel through an airport, across borders, seamlessly and without having to present either their passport or their boarding pass.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smith said the system would allow travellers to complete much of the process before even leaving for the airport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBefore you set out for the airport, you know that you have completed all the airline processes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou know that you\u2019re going to have a seamless experience through the airport, and more importantly, when you get to your destination, you\u2019re going to have a very simplified arrival experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IATA noted that governments can now begin putting in place legal, technical, and operational frameworks to issue and accept these Digital Travel Credentials across borders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, it\u2019s important to note that paper-based options should remain available, ensuring that travel remains accessible for everyone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South Africans and other people around the world could soon travel through airports without needing a physical passport or boarding pass.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":856256,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[25152,853,25151],"class_list":["post-856251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-digital-travel-credentials-dtcs","tag-south-africa","tag-the-international-air-transport-association-iata"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=856251"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856251\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":856279,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856251\/revisions\/856279"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/856256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=856251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=856251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=856251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}