MADRID • Spain's tourism minister Reyes Maroto said yesterday that the country could start using the vaccine passport in May, when the Fitur international tourism fair is due to take place in Madrid.

"We could be in a position to start implementing the digital passport (when Fitur starts on May 19)," said the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism.

Faced with the coronavirus pandemic which has killed over 900,000 people in Europe and thrust the continent into its deepest recession, European Union leaders agreed to work on vaccine certificates to kick-start the tourism industry, which has been severely hurt by the crisis.

The private and public sectors of tourism-dependent countries such as Spain and Greece have sought a unified response to the patchwork of health requisites, bans and quarantine that have grounded global travel.

Greece hopes to reopen tourism on May 14, provided that travellers have been vaccinated, have antibodies or have a negative Covid-19 test.

Ms Maroto said Spain could reopen for international tourism if 30 per cent to 40 per cent of its population is inoculated against the coronavirus. She said Spain is working with the European Commission to develop "instruments that guarantee safe mobility", including the vaccine passport, and Spain is preparing to carry out a pilot test on its use.

She insisted that despite a slow start to its vaccine roll-out due to a shortage in the supply of doses, Spain is still on track to vaccinate 70 per cent of its population by the end of the summer.

While Ms Maroto was optimistic about tourists being able to travel to Spain in the spring, there will be no arrivals from the United Kingdom, Brazil or South Africa until at least the end of this month.

Meanwhile, Spanish IT group Amadeus is launching a system that allows users to upload documents such as Covid-19 vaccination certificates or results from polymerase chain reaction or serological tests onto any airline's mobile app or website, as part of the check-in process, and cut down on the need for costly manual checks.

The system, which will be hosted on an existing platform for storing identification data, is due to be deployed in the second quarter of the year.

The International Air Transport Association, which has 290 airline members, has developed an app that will store information on passengers' health, such as whether they have had coronavirus tests or vaccines. Singapore Airlines will be the first carrier to use this app on its Singapore to London flights from next Monday.

The EU has said it would roll out its own "digital green pass" in time for the summer.

REUTERS, XINHUA