As the world deals with a deadly pandemic, activities have come to a standstill for many countries. While some countries have been incessantly battling the virus, things have been on a brighter side for some countries, with many opening their doors to travelling.

As Coronavirus has led to a fall in the number of passengers, it has become far more than necessary for the airlines to adhere to new safer ways of operating. Covid passports are one of them. While foreign travel is at standstill for now, but these passports are the way forward when mass foreign travel restart, shares Dubai Airports chief executive Paul Griffiths.

“I don’t think there is an alternative,” says Paul Griffiths adding that these documents are inevitable. But critics of the digital systems say otherwise as they argue that it discriminates against those who cannot get vaccinated.

“I think the problem is not the vaccine passport and its discrimination. It’s the need to roll things out and have a proper globally equitable vaccine programme,” he told BBC News.

 
But as Paul seconds to the thought of Covid passports, the World Health Organisation and World Travel & Tourism Council fear that vaccine passports will create a ‘two-tier society’.

Last month, too, Dr Mike Ryan from the WHO shared his concerns about the ethical and fairness issues surrounding vaccine passports.

Last year with the travel ban, the aviation industry faced a lot of economic backlashes. They are desperately looking for ways to pick up speed after the damage by the government restrictions and a collapse in passenger confidence.

According to the Air Transport Action Group, it was making a $3.5 trillion annual contribution to the global economy before the pandemic. However, due to the ban on travel, the numbers going through Dubai International Airport collapsed, making the numbers fall.

“We need to get into risk management rather than risk avoidance,” shares Paul, adding, “I just don’t think the world can survive without that mobility for much longer, certainly socially and economically, but you can understand why countries around the world are being very conservative. The last thing any politician wants is a surge of infection on their turf.”