New Technologies Seek To Put ‘Passenger First’ in Air Travel

Accommodating the strong demand for air travel requires new technologies, harmonised regulations, and fit-for-purpose infrastructure.

The global body of airlines - IATA is collaborating with its members, industry partners and governments worldwide to enable airlines to deliver a more seamless, inclusive, and secure passenger experience while improving efficiency and lowering industry costs.

Digital travel is a major component of this effort, the International Air Transport Association says.

Travellers can store identity documents in a 'digital wallet' and then, by consenting to share their biometrics, pass through various airport checkpoints—such as bag drop, security, immigration, and boarding—without needing to show physical documents.

In 2024, a proof of concept (PoC) using different digital wallets and travel credentials was tested with select travellers on the route between Hong Kong and Tokyo.

Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong International Airport, Narita International Airport, Branchspace, Facephi, NEC, Neoke, Northern Block, and SICPA partnered in the PoC, which took place in a functioning airport environment, IATA noted in a report published during its Annual General Meeting in New Delhi early this month.

The successful PoC—developed in the IATA Data and Technology Hub—integrates seven verifiable credentials (e-passport copy, live biometric image, visa copy, company ID, frequent flyer membership, retail order, and boarding pass); two digital wallets; and a trust registry to verify issuers.

This validates the flexibility of the required technology across travel stages and jurisdictions.

It also aligns with government efforts to adopt digital travel credentials based on International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards.

The European Union (EU), for instance, is preparing to issue digital wallets—a secure means of storing and sharing digital documents—to citizens and residents by 2027.

Travel documentation: With passenger traffic set to double by 2040, optimising and enhancing airport processes will need to continue. Verifying passengers’ travel documentation is one of the more time-consuming tasks which will benefit from further automation.

IATA’s ‘Timatic Suite’ of products, which includes ‘Timatic Autocheck’, has evolved over decades, earning the trust and reliance of both industry professionals and travellers.

Annually, more than 1bn passenger document checks are performed through Timatic. The recent redevelopment of the Timatic Suite of products marks an important progression in simplifying and streamlining the offering to enhance the experience for passengers and users alike.

This includes the relaunch of ‘Timatic Web’. With a new Ease of Travel index and an enhanced interface, Timatic Web makes it easier than ever for airlines and travel organisations to provide travellers with real-time updates to help them prepare for their journey.

Modern airline retailing: IATA’s Modern Airline Retailing (MAR) initiative is expanding throughout the aviation value chain. 

Decades-old technologies, processes, and standards that were inhibiting customer centricity are being replaced by MAR’s 100% Offers and Orders typical of genuine retailing.

This grants air travellers the same level of transparency on airline products and services that they get when they shop for consumer products online and regardless of where they shop and pay. Indeed, MAR fully integrates payment management.

Moreover, travellers will no longer need to juggle reference numbers and various documents, such as passenger name records (PNR); e-tickets; and electronic miscellaneous documents (EMD). 

Instead, they will have an order detailing their purchase, and the airline internal processes of revenue accounting and reconciliation will be simplified.

New Distribution Capability (NDC) messaging standard—integral to the offers phase of the Offers and Orders journey— is established, enabling the industry to focus on the transformation to MAR.

This will further smooth passengers’ ability to purchase and receive air travel products and services seamlessly through their preferred channels and at a level of convenience and personalisation akin to genuine modern retailing.

By 2026, the Passenger Standards Conference (PSC) aims to develop standards involving Offers and Orders communication, such as product taxonomy, tax integration, and interline data exchange.

Importantly, all standards are being developed with a cross-functional approach to break down silos, IATA noted.

In 2024, meanwhile, a survey by IATA of major IT providers found that significant progress was being made in the technical architecture that makes ‘Offers and Orders’ possible.

The transition to Offers and Orders is thus gathering speed at airlines. The acceleration is demonstrated by the high-level industry transition roadmap released by IATA in November 2024.

According to the roadmap, core solutions are anticipated by 2026, with adoption at scale expected from 2030. Leading airlines have already embarked on the journey.

The journey to Offers and Orders will affect numerous airline departments. Finance departments, for example, will be transformed. 

Transactions will be transparent from booking to destination, eliminating the need for lengthy reconciliation processes.

The move to transform payment standards has also begun. Conventional payment standards can have proprietary add-ons that lock in an airline to a particular product.

Updating these standards will empower airlines to enhance value creation and ultimately offer customers additional preferred payment options.