“Vedomosti”: Ministry of Transport will check QR codes before check-in passengers of flights before buying tickets. Now the certificate will be checked only before check-in for the flight. The newspaper “Vedomosti” writes about this with reference to sources in airlines and the Ministry of Transport.
“The adjusted position of the Ministry of Transport will be presented on December 7 at a meeting with deputies in the State Duma Transport Committee chaired by Yevgeny Moskvichev,” said one from sources.
According to the agency's interlocutors, if after the purchase of the ticket there is no vaccination certificate registered on the State Service website, the airline will send him a notification about the need to obtain such a certificate. If the QR code does not appear by the time of check-in for the flight (in Russian airlines, check-in opens 24 hours before departure), the airline will terminate the contract of carriage and must return the full cost of the ticket within 30 days.
At the same time, it will not be the airline itself that will request information on the availability of a certificate, but the provider of its inventory booking system, in which carriers store data on flights, fares and capacities. According to the newspaper's sources, these include such companies as Saber, Amadeus, Navitaire or the Russian Sirena Travel and Online Reserve Systems. It is not reported how the check will take place for passengers who do not have a profile on the State Services website.
It is reported that when forming a new position, the Ministry of Transport took into account that citizens should have the right to purchase tickets without restrictions, and also that many passengers buy tickets in advance, when it is still possible to vaccinate and receive a code before departure.
Earlier it was reported that Aerofot is preparing to introduce a QR code check for COVID-19 vaccination in aircraft passengers. The general director of the carrier Mikhail Poluboyarinov explained that the company is currently finalizing software and technological processes in order to “make the procedure as comfortable as possible for passengers.”
On November 16, Deputy Head of the Ministry of Transport Kirill Bogdanov said that checking QR codes for passengers aircraft will be introduced in Russia no later than February. “This is a concern for the health of our passengers,” he stressed.