The Duty Free World Council (DFWC) is urging the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to consider the implications for duty and tax free retail when working on passenger travel passes, digital facial recognition and other solutions ahead of the future growth in passenger volumes.

Sarah Branquinho, President, DFWC expressed her concerns at the beginning of this week’s DFWC 2021 — The Year of the Recovery webinar.

She said: “For our industry, the concern is that replacing boarding passes with digital facial recognition may leave us with challenges in terms of fulfilling our agreements with Customs authorities.

“Digital facial recognition could also have an impact on passengers’ perception of speed of travel through airports and reduce dwell time, while governments and citizens will be concerned about the protection of personal data.

“In a call with IATA last week, we reminded them that duty and tax free retail is an integral part of the total business model and that safeguards needs to be built in to protect our ability to make these sales. This is something we will be working on with IATA and that we all need to remember when discussing the digital future with our airports and airline partners.”

RE-OPENING BORDERS SAFELY THE MAIN PRIORITY

Re-opening borders safely is the main priority, according to Branquinho who welcomes the prospect of a digital system to ensure the best possible travel experience.

“The aviation industry and indeed the travel industry generally is advocating a combination of testing and vaccines — not quarantines, which are stifling travel the world over.

“IATA argues that the current system of presenting fit-to-fly certificates, proof of nationality and residence and in some cases proof of valid emergency reasons to travel is taking an extraordinarily long time at check-in. This is despite today’s low passenger numbers.

“Some kind of digital system is urgently needed to cope with the future upswing in passenger volumes.”

IATA is designing a digital solution which can be incorporated into airline apps that most passengers will already have on their phones.

Earlier this week, the association revealed it was partnering with the government of the Republic of Panama and Copa Airline to trial IATA Travel Pass — a mobile app to help passengers easily and securely manage their travel in line with government requirements for Covid-19 testing or vaccine information.

Using IATA Travel Pass, Copa Airlines passengers can create a digital passport. This will allow passengers to match their travel itineraries with the Covid-19 health requirements of their destination and validate that they are complying with them. The initial trial phase is expected to begin in March on select flights from Copa’s Hub of the Americas in Panama City.

In addition to checking travel requirements, IATA Travel Pass will include a registry of testing and eventually vaccination centres. This will make it more convenient for passengers to find testing centres and labs at their departure location which meet the standards for testing and vaccination requirements of their destination.

The platform will also enable authorised labs and test centres to securely send test results or vaccination certificates to passengers. This will manage and allow the secure flow of necessary information among all stakeholders and provide a seamless passenger experience.

Dan Gunn, Senior Vice President for Operations, Copa Airlines said: “At Copa Airlines, we are proud to be pioneers in the implementation of IATA Travel Pass, working together with IATA and the government of Panama.

“The IATA Travel Pass will simplify and enhance compliance with health requirements for our passengers. An international standard solution for digital health passports such as IATA Travel Pass holds the key to the safe restart of the travel and tourism industry, which is an important contributor to Panama’s and Latin America’s economy.”

ONGOING TOBACCO FIGHT

Aside digital solutions and other Covid-19 issues, DFWC is continuing its fight to persuade the World Health Organisation that DF&TR has ‘absolutely nothing to do’ with the illicit tobacco market. This topic will be among those discussed during the Council’s next webinar.

The DFWC is also working with ACI World to secure a temporary relaxation of travellers’ duty free limits and allowances to help stimulate sales on selected duty free products.

Lobbying for the introduction of duty and tax free shopping on arrival in certain countries to level the playing field with countries that do, is a further priority.

Regarding other initiatives and focuses Branquinho concluded: “We have been supporting industry efforts to reverse the decision on the abolition of UK take free sales and continued our engagement with other global organisations in the aviation and maritime sectors.

“The purpose of our engagement with the various global organisations is to highlight the critical role our industry plays in their financial models and explain why we need help during these difficult times.”