UAE's second flag carrier Etihad Airways has extended its ‘Verified To Fly’ travel document initiative, enabling travelers to validate their Covid-19 travel documents before arriving at the airport, to routes across its global network. The initiative will apply to a majority of Etihad flights, to use the extended service passengers can sign-up by https://www.etihad.com/en/manage and following the simple instructions to upload and submit their travel documents, the airline said. 

Guests will receive confirmation once their documents have been approved in line with government requirements and can travel to the airport knowing they have met all essential requirements before their flight, the airline added.

The verified travelers will receive fast track check-in at the airport through the dedicated 'Verified to Fly' desk for a quicker and smoother experience, it said.

Etihad Airways said that 'Verified to Fly Guests' saw their processing times at the check-in desk almost halved and the average queuing time for all guests reduced.

Launched at the start of June, Etihad's initiative has proven a successful tool helping people return to travel, providing passengers with confidence that they have the necessary documents to meet government Covid19 related travel rules to be allowed to fly, it added.

Passengers under Etihad's initiative are only meant to share their data with the airline itself, with no third-party involvement.

John Wright, Vice President Global Airports and Network Operations, Etihad Airways, said: “Verified to Fly has proven hugely popular with our guests, as they get a fast track experience when checking in at the airport using Verified to Fly. Removing guess work from the process, guests also value the assurance that when they arrive at the airport, they have already met all Covid travel requirements.

“We appreciate these are challenging times for travelers and this has been a key initiative to simplify our guests’ journeys as much as possible.”

Etihad said once the submission under the airliner's initiative has been checked by the 'Verified to Fly' team, guests will receive a ‘success’ email if their documents meet government requirements. If requirements are missing or not met, the guest will be asked to resubmit or check their documents.