The International Air Transport Association has published results from a series of Digital Identity Proofs of Concept demonstrating that contactless, biometric-enabled international travel using digital identity wallets is fully operational and interoperable across carriers, airports, and borders, with IATA calling on governments to accelerate the issuance of Digital Travel Credentials.
The results, released today from Singapore, formalize findings from trials conducted across Europe and Asia-Pacific with participation from airlines, airports, technology providers, and governments. Three core scenarios were tested. The first involved multi-carrier international transfers across British Airways and Japan Airlines through London Heathrow, Hong Kong, and Tokyo Haneda, where passengers shared identity data in advance via digital wallets and used tap-and-go processing at airport touchpoints, with identity data reused seamlessly across multiple carriers and airports. The second scenario, operated by Air New Zealand on the Auckland-Hong Kong route, tested an airline-managed digital identity ecosystem enabling remote biometric enrollment and contactless processing without document handling. A third scenario tested cross-provider interoperability within single journeys, with IndiGo operating Bengaluru-based flights.
Digital identity systems tested in the PoCs included Apple Wallet for US passports, Google ID Pass for UK and US credentials, India’s Digi Yatra biometric travel platform, the Air New Zealand Wallet, Face Express by NEC, the open-source Multipaz wallet, and SITA Wallet. Technology partners included Amadeus, Branchspace, Hopae, NEC, SICPA, and SITA. Key capabilities demonstrated included advance identity sharing with user consent, biometric verification replacing physical document checks, and wallet interoperability across different platform providers.
The results build on IATA’s Hong Kong-Tokyo digital travel pilot in November 2024, which first demonstrated paperless travel using digital wallets and biometric verification across those routes. IATA’s Contactless Travel Directory, launched April 7, 2026, provides a parallel infrastructure tool to help airlines and airports identify interoperable biometric touchpoints globally.
“We have proven that digital identity for international travel works securely and efficiently. Governments must accelerate Digital Travel Credentials issuance,” said Willie Walsh, IATA Director General. IATA represents more than 360 airlines accounting for approximately 85 percent of global air traffic. Walsh’s call is directed at governments to issue ICAO-defined Digital Travel Credentials – digital equivalents of passports – and prepare national acceptance systems capable of receiving them at border touchpoints. ICAO’s upgraded digital travel credential infrastructure entered production in late March 2026 with 107 member states already participating, providing the trust framework governments would need to issue and accept DTCs.
Sources: International Air Transport Association
–
By Cass Kennedy
