Photo/Illutration Japan Airlines Co. aircraft in Tokyo’s Ota Ward in May 2020 (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Japan Airlines Co. (JAL) has introduced a digital version of COVID-19 vaccine passports to confirm passengers’ vaccination status instead of on a paper document, the first Japanese airline to do so.

JAL announced on Nov. 8 that it will use an app called VeriFLY, developed by the U.S. firm Daon Inc., for its flights from Japan to the United States, excluding Guam and Hawaii.

The airline introduced the app on a full-scale basis in October to enable passengers to digitally show their negative COVID-19 test results.

The app can now be used to present vaccine passports as all entrants to the United States are required to be fully inoculated starting on Nov. 8, local time.

JAL also plans to use the digital vaccine passports for passengers on flights to Europe and other parts of Asia.

Passengers register information on their vaccine passports, which are currently issued only on paper in Japan, on the app beforehand and show the app screen to airport staff at check-in counters.

If users meet the requirements set by countries they are traveling to, the app will show the message “Ready to Travel” in green.

JAL airport staff previously verified passengers’ vaccination status on paper, which was a time-consuming procedure because different languages and formats were used in those documents.

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