Vaccination certificates might become the new norm for travel with countries making it a requirement for entry, the GCEO of Qatar Airways (QA) has said.

Speaking to BBC, Akbar Al Baker said, “I think that this will be the new norm that everybody will have to produce a vaccination certificate to board an aeroplane - and not only to board an aeroplane, a lot of countries would require that you be vaccinated before you come to their countries.”

“I think it will be a joint ICAO, IATA and WHO project, to introduce a safe pass for people whose vaccination certificates will be recognized internationally,” he added.

H.E. Mr. Al Baker added: “I think that it will not only be a part for IATA to play, I think it will be a joint ICAO, IATA and WHO project, to introduce a safe pass for people whose vaccination certificates would be recognised internationally.” pic.twitter.com/RaaxBGseXo

— Qatar Airways (@qatarairways) January 18, 2021

Referring to the level of travel now in comparison to pre-COVID-19 travel, the QA GCEO said, “Until and unless science proves all these questions that people have about the disease or the effect of the vaccination, I don’t think that travel will come back to 2019 levels for the foreseeable future.”

“Nothing is more costly than to look at the interest of our passengers and our crew, to protect them from this pandemic,” he highlighted.

“We invest to look after them and at the same time to give them the confidence that they can travel on Qatar Airways,” Al Baker added.

Referring to QA plans, he mentioned that the airline “will continue to take every single aircraft that we have ordered from both the manufacturers, because in Qatar Airways we are very prudent in the way we place our aircraft orders and our requirements.”

On a related note, Qatar’s Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) yesterday announced that vaccination certificates for those who receive the COVID-19 vaccine in Qatar will be available seven days after they have taken the second dose. The certificates can be accessed via the MyHealth patient portal.

Yesterday, in an interview with Qatar Television, a senior health official confirmed that the MoPH will accredit these certificates. The certificates will contain all relevant details and will be in Arabic as well as English.

---

Make sure to check out our social media to keep track of the latest content.

Instagram - @qatarliving

Twitter - @qatarliving

Facebook - Qatar Living

YouTube - qatarlivingofficial

Source: Twitter/@qatarairways