Aptitude brought its work on Digital Travel Credentials (DTC) to the 21st ICAO Traveller Identification Programme (TRIP) Symposium, held in Montréal from 22–24 September 2026.
Florent Tournois, Director of Identity, Trust Services and Production, Identity Programme, represented Aptitude in the session “DTC Fundamentals from Concept to Deployment”, sharing the work of France Identité and Aptitude on moving Digital Travel Credentials from technical feasibility towards real-world, cross-border travel experiences.
Janer Pascal, International Commercial Director at IN Groupe and Work Package Leader for Digital Travel Credentials in Aptitude, also contributed to the programme through IN Groupe’s Sky Talk “FLY’IN with Digital Travel Credential (DTC)”. The presentation shared experience from real-world DTC deployment and explored how digital identities can be integrated across enrolment, identity verification, airport processing and boarding, while preserving traveller control over personal data.
The contributions built on testing already carried out within Aptitude. In May, operational experimentation at Marseille Provence Airport tested how a PhotoID credential carrying a DTC-VC, issued through France Identité, could support border control and automated boarding. The trial demonstrated technical and operational feasibility while identifying practical improvements ahead of broader pilots.
This work continued in Geneva, where more than 100 DTC-VCs were issued to participants of 39 nationalities, providing another opportunity to test implementations against the diversity of real travel documents.
Through Aptitude, the next step is to explore cross-border pilots for 2027, connecting credential issuance, online check-in, baggage drop, border crossing and boarding through a common credential format. The work also considers selective disclosure, allowing each actor involved in the travel journey to receive the information required for a specific interaction without unnecessarily exposing additional personal data.
The discussions in Montréal also opened opportunities to explore future interoperability testing and cooperation with representatives from Singapore and Canada.
Explore the full ICAO TRIP 2026 agenda here.
