Ticket? Passport? Add a Covid vaccination card to your list of required travel documents

Across the United States, domestic travel is recovering from the stabilization or decline of Covid-19 cases and a relatively rapid surge in vaccination. This return has not yet occurred in international travel, where a number of travel bans, quarantine rules and testing requirements have prevented cross-border flights.

US domestic carriers increased their scheduled capacity by more than 50% between September and March, according to aviation analysis company Cirium. Meanwhile, global capacity on all international routes has increased by just over 7%.

British Airways, Ryanair and other airlines dependent on international travel hope to increase ticket sales, capitalizing on the birth’s optimism about vaccinations. The measure is not exactly the kind of vaccination passport that some governments and international agencies are considering to help unblock the economies affected by the pandemic. The countries looked at documents that would allow vaccinated residents to visit bars and restaurants or go to the office or a sporting event.

Instead, it is a more modest effort to make the storage and presentation of vaccination and Covid-19 test records easier for passengers who intend to take advantage of the early receipt of vaccinated travelers. The aim is to make the transition to post-pandemic flight as easy as possible, by minimizing fears of being refused entry at the borders and by limiting the time a passenger has to spend at check-in at the airport.

British Airways is also moving at a time when its domestic market, the United Kingdom, is enjoying one of the fastest vaccine launches in the world. The British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, set plans last month that could lead to the lifting of a month-long ban on travel abroad in May. Airlines reported an increase in bookings after Mr Johnson’s briefing. TUI AG

, the largest tour operator in Europe, reported a 500% weekly increase in bookings for travel to Turkey, Greece and Spain.

Cyprus and Greece, which have intermittently closed their borders to most tourists, have said they will start receiving British visitors without restrictions if they can prove they have received the two-dose vaccination. Both reopen to British visitors in early and mid-May, respectively. In Iceland, the government allows any vaccinated traveler to bypass Covid-19 health screening protocols.

China said on Tuesday it was easing travel restrictions for vaccinated foreigners. Chinese embassies in the US, Italy, India, the Philippines and other locations intend to offer “visa facilitation” to foreign applicants who can certify that they have been vaccinated. Travelers are still undergoing a negative Covid-19 test and a quarantine and there is another catch: the only qualifying vaccination is the one given by China. These are hard to find in much of the West.

As part of its plan to ease post-pandemic travel, British Airways – the largest carrier owned by International Consolidated Airlines Group TO

—Allows passengers to upload Covid-19 inoculation evidence and negative tests when making a reservation on its website. By examining the health documentation uploaded by passengers, British Airways can verify that passenger documents are in order, just as airlines are already doing for various passenger visa requirements.

The first flights for which data can be sent are those from London to India. India does not require a vaccine to travel, but it does require proof of a negative Covid-19 test.

“We are preparing for a significant return to international travel in the coming months,” said Sean Doyle, executive director of British Airways. “It means doing everything we can to make travel easier for our customers.”

Ryanair, the largest traffic in Europe, has developed a similar “travel wallet” tool on its website and mobile application. He said he was preparing for an increase in demand in May and June, once Europe’s higher-risk populations were vaccinated.

“Many Ryanair customers will take their first vacation in over a year, following the new travel guidelines,” said Dara Brady, Ryanair’s head of marketing. The travel wallet will allow passengers to keep all their Covid documents “in one place, without any hassle or worries”.

As vaccination programs around the world accelerate, airlines are testing a number of other ways to make it easier for passengers to navigate the various Covid-19 international health regimes. Carriers, including Singapore Airlines Ltd.

, Emirates Airline and Qatar Airways worked with the International Air Transport Association, a commercial body of airlines, to test the so-called Travel Pass system. The system, which includes a mobile application, aims to enable passengers to demonstrate Covid-19 vaccination and testing records, while identifying testing and vaccination requirements for different locations and local test centers accessible during the journey.

US carriers have also turned to new applications to help passengers keep track of various travel requirements and upload test results – systems that could eventually be used to record vaccines.

Israel, before most countries in the vaccination process, has implemented a vaccine passport that allows citizens to check their vaccinations to visit hotels and gyms, a measure that the British government said it is still exploring. Israel’s borders are still effectively closed to foreign visitors.

The European Union intends to unveil on Wednesday a “digital green permit” for EU citizens recording Covid-19 test results and vaccines to allow travel within the EU for both work and tourism. Governments across the Mediterranean are working to get the measure implemented in time to prevent a second lost summer season for their tourism industry.

—Alison Sider of Chicago contributed to this article.

Write to Benjamin Katz at [email protected]