Scoot Gets Onboard Singapore Airlines’ Pilot Trials for COVID-19 Tests and Digital Verification at Check-in

By now, we’ve mostly come to terms with the fact that when air travel resumes, it’s going to look vastly different. 

China has already launched vaccine passports for health certification to ensure safer air travel, and other countries are working on developing their own. 

In the meantime, Scoot is putting two new initiatives on trial which will provide travellers with a one-stop solution for COVID-19 pre-departure tests (PDTs). 

Earlier, Scoot’s parent carrier, Singapore Airlines, had already started trials for both initiatives. 

Scoot Gets Onboard Singapore Airlines’ Pilot Trials for COVID-19 Tests and Digital Verification at Check-in

An online portal was launched on Wednesday (17 Mar), allowing travellers departing on flights from Singapore, Indonesia and Hong Kong to book PDT appointments with reputable partner clinics. 

Travellers will be able to make payment for tests and receive their test results in a digital form within 36 hours. 

Scoot has declared that PDT results collected via the online portal have QR codes that can be authenticated digitally, facilitating verification as well as enhancing the integrity of the process. 

Scoot is working with Affinidi, a Temasek-founded technology company, in trialling a digital verification solution during check-in for selected flights from Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.

“We applaud Scoot for being among the first few airlines in Singapore to prioritise travellers’ needs and safety while maintaining privacy; ensuring travel experience is as seamless and efficient as we reunite people to families and jobs to economies as they take to the skies,” said Glenn Gore, Affinidi CEO.

According to Scoot, scanning the QR code with a secure app enables check-in agents to easily confirm the authenticity of both digital and printed COVID-19 test results with a verifiable QR code provided by selected clinics. 

Lesser time taken to complete the check-in process

This will help to minimise the time taken by travellers to complete the check-in process, making for an enhanced travel experience. 

Campbell Wilson, CEO of Scoot, said, “Through both solutions, we hope our customers can be assured of a more convenient, efficient and reliable experience when they travel with us.”

“These, among other initiatives by Scoot, not only support the gradual re-opening of borders with robust safeguards in place but also aim to meet customers’ expectations in a post-COVID world.”

Scoot has already trialled the digital health verification process at check-in for six flights and will be conducting more trials on the TR431 flight from Kuching to Singapore, along with the TR485 flight from Ipoh. 

According to aviation analyst Shukor Yusof of Endau Analytics, while digital verification of health records can make for safe air travel in the future, efforts by different airlines to create their own respective verification systems will result in distrust. 

He added that it would be most ideal if there is a “universally accepted practice and standard, where one app is accepted globally”.

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