Ryanair is launching a Covid-19 travel wallet to enable customers to store their test and vaccine data in the carrier's smartphone app. The wallet will be able to upload PCR test results, vaccination certificates and any other Covid-related documents that may be required to travel. "Ryanair is confident that the EU’s vaccine rollout programme will see the removal of current EU travel restrictions in time for the school holidays (June to September), and in the interim, customers can avail of Ryanair’s C-19 Wallet, which will house all Covid travel documents in the one location making it easy to present at airports on the day of travel," the airline says. It expects that once the high-risk/elderly population of Europe is vaccinated, by the end of May or June, "travel restrictions will be relaxed and air travel will experience a bounceback from pent-up customer demand that will see European families travelling again for well-earned summer holidays to the beaches of Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece this summer". Several programmes are under way to allow passengers to access, store and communicate health information in order to smooth the return to flying. IATA is developing a travel pass app that will be trialled later this month by Singapore Airlines, and the association expects a wider rollout later in the year. Ultimately, it believes the technology will be seamlessly integrated into airlines' own apps. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization, ICAO and the OECD are working on standards for a "smart vaccine card", and the EU has proposed a "digital green pass" to get passengers flying again.

Following the lifting of the 737 Max's grounding, Icelandair has resumed commercial flights using the Boeing narrowbody after a nearly two-year break. Icelandair says the airline carried out its first flight with a Max aircraft since March 2019 on a route from Reykjavik to the Danish capital Copenhagen. European authorities cleared the Max for a return to service in late January. Icelandair joins TUIfly Belgium and Czech carrier Smartwings among European carriers to so far restore flights with the aircraft, while Polish carrier LOT carried out a repositioning flight for the first of its Max jets on 4 March ahead of planned return to service. The Icelandic carrier was operating a fleet of four Max aircraft at the time of the grounding.

American Airlines has agreed a deal in principle with logistics provider Kuehne+Nagel to deploy 3 million gallons of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The Fort Worth-based airline says this volume of SAF is enough to enable a Boeing 787-9 passenger aircraft to fly carbon neutral around the world 25 times. American, which aims to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, started taking delivery of SAF at San Francisco International airport during summer 2020. The carrier has committed to using 9 million gallons of SAF over the next three years.