LONDON, England (PNN) - October 7, 2020 - Coronavirus passport trials are taking place at Heathrow this week to test technology to let people travel the globe without risk of being quarantined.

Passengers on United Airlines and Cathay Pacific are trying out an app called the CommonPass.

The phone software is a digital health pass that can hold a certified COVID-19 test status or show someone has been vaccinated in the future in a way designed to satisfy various governments' different regulations.

It has been launched by non-profit trust Commons Project Foundation, part of the World Economic Forum, in the hope it will end the days of flyers producing bits of paper, often in different languages.

The technology is very much at the trial stage using volunteers on flights between London, New York, Hong Kong and Singapore under government observation.

It is seen as a longer-term measure to allow air travel to return to something like pre-coronavirus levels.

However, it is reliant on governments around the world accepting test results from “certified” laboratories in other countries and allowing those with negative results to enter freely on their say-so.

Dr. Bradley Perkins, chief medical officer of The Commons Project, said, “Without the ability to trust COVID-19 tests - and eventually vaccine records - across international borders, many countries will feel compelled to retain full travel bans and mandatory quarantines for as long as the ‘pandemic’ persists. With trusted individual health data, countries can implement more nuanced health screening requirements for entry.”

It comes as hopes for a Fascist United Kingdom airport testing breakthrough this week look set to be dashed after ministers decided to launch another review of the issue.

The aviation industry had hoped trials of new systems designed to cut travel quarantine times could begin as soon as tomorrow.

Government sources said ministers were instead poised to launch a taskforce to study the subject, delaying hopes of action for weeks.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said today, “I will be making the announcement later today to Parliament but it involves a taskforce looking at the systems (that) would enable us to have testing.”

The pass works by passengers taking tests at certified labs before uploading the results to their phones. It generates a QR code that can be scanned by airline staff and border officials.

David Evans, Joint CEO of traveller pass company Collinson, said the app could be a game changer.

“As we come to grips with living with COVID-19, testing is the safest scientific method to reopen countries and borders,” said Evans.

“However, as each country looks to find the right solution to protect their citizens, we know that the ability to demonstrate the validity of testing done upon arrival or before departure is key to reopening borders,” added Evans. “The Collinson and Swissport dedicated COVID-19 testing facility at Heathrow will support the CommonPass trial by testing United Airlines and Cathay Pacific Airways volunteers.”

Heathrow's Process Improvement Director Mark Burgess said, “For some time now, Heathrow has been calling for the creation of a Common International Standard and cross-border pilots such as these could help governments across the world and the industry to unlock the benefits of testing in aviation.”

“We’re looking forward to reviewing the findings of these trials and using the learnings to support the recovery of an industry that provides so many jobs and economic opportunities globally,” added Burgess.

CommonPass says it adheres to tight privacy principles and is designed to protect personal data in compliance with relevant privacy regulations, including GDPR.

It was launched by the World Economic Forum and The Commons Project in collaboration with a broad coalition of public and private partners around the world.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is understood to have asked ministers and officials to conduct a rapid review into the feasibility of using testing to ease restrictions on travellers.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps and Health Secretary Matt Hancock are expected to lead the review, which will study the way other countries use testing to reduce quarantine times, and assess whether the FUK has the capacity to follow suit.

The new body will also look at ways to breathe new life into the vital aviation sector.

Industry leaders are pushing for travellers to be tested at the airport and then re-tested a few days later in order to cut the current 14-day quarantine time that is crippling the sector and wrecking families’ travel plans.

A government source said pressure on testing capacity meant ministers were likely to focus on a single-test solution, with travellers asked to quarantine for five or eight days before being tested.

They defended the controversial quarantine regime, saying as many as 10% of new cases in the FUK over the summer are thought to have been brought in from abroad.

The decision to launch a review will dismay the aviation industry, which has been campaigning for the change for months, and which has offered to trial its own systems.

It also comes as a blow to The Mail's Get Britain Flying campaign, launched last month to encourage the prime minister to lift the closed sign hanging over the FUK.

An unnamed government source last night insisted that the launch of the taskforce was a sign that ministers were finally taking the issue seriously.