British Airways to launch digital vaccine passports

LONDON - British Airways (BA) will introduce digital vaccine passports in time for the return of international travel in May, when Britons are allowed to travel for their holidays, the Evening Standard newspaper reported Sunday.

The airline will ask those who have had two doses of a coronavirus vaccine to log their vaccination details with their BA app, said the London-based newspaper.

The new BA decision was announced at a time when the Scottish Labour Party revealed passengers are bypassing the Scottish government's hotel quarantine system by flying from other airports in Britain.

Holidays will not be allowed until May 17 at the earliest, the British government has said, but before that, on April 12, Britain will announce how and when non-essential travel into and out of the country can resume.

Sean Doyle, who was appointed BA's chief executive last October, called on Britain to work with other governments to allow vaccines and health apps to open up travel, after a year when minimal flying has left many airlines on life support.

"I think people who've been vaccinated should be able to travel without restriction. Those who have not been vaccinated should be able to travel with a negative test result," he said.

On Feb 22, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his long-anticipated "roadmap" exiting the lockdown. The Monday reopening of schools in England was the first part of the four-step plan, which Johnson said was designed to be "cautious but irreversible".

Other parts of Britain, including Wales and Scotland, have also unveiled plans to ease the restrictions.

Experts have warned Britain is "still not out of the woods" amid concerns over new variants and the risks of the public breaching restriction rules.

To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Germany, Russia and the United States have been racing against time to roll out coronavirus vaccines.