LONDON • The International Air Transport Association (Iata) warned that the outlook for airlines has been weakened recently by tightening coronavirus restrictions but said it was preparing for a travel recovery later this year and would launch a digital travel pass next month.

The global airline industry body said the sector would continue to bleed cash this year and raised its forecast for total annual airline cash burn to between US$75 billion (S$98.8 billion) and US$95 billion, up from the US$48 billion it had forecast in December but still well short of roughly US$150 billion last year.

Despite mounting losses, the industry focus is on how travel can restart at scale when borders are finally reopened and huge pent-up demand is released.

"We need to plan for the recovery," Iata director-general Alexandre de Juniac said on Wednesday. "We will need a way to digitally manage health credentials and a secure global standard to record test results and vaccinations."

Iata said its travel pass, which will be formally launched at the end of next month, will help to facilitate travel by putting Covid-19 test results and vaccine certificates in one digital format, speeding up check-in processes.

This summer is make or break for many airlines struggling to survive after a year of minimal revenue owing to the pandemic.

Britain's Heathrow Airport on Wednesday said it was taking 20 minutes per passenger to check paper test results and passenger locator forms, something that is only possible when passenger numbers are so low.

Vaccinations give hope that more travel will be allowed, but Iata said that countries need to issue digital proof to allow travel to take off.

"It's really absolutely critical that we start issuing digital vaccine credentials," said Iata's head of airport, passenger and security products, Alan Murray Hayden.

Meanwhile, European Union leaders met yesterday under pressure to speed up Europe's vaccine roll-out, and they were divided over border closures and what introducing vaccine travel certificates could mean.

The video summit for the leaders of the 27-nation bloc comes a year into the Covid-19 crisis.

The member states now face outbreaks of more contagious variants from Britain and South Africa. Brussels has warned six governments, including Germany's, about unilateral border restrictions, while tourist-dependent countries are piling on the pressure to lift travel barriers in time for summer vacations.

REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE