Passengers unable to check-in for flights as NHS COVID pass malfunctions

Travelers experienced some major turbulence at the airport yesterday evening when the NHS Covid-19 pass was ‘unavailable’. The ordeal lasted about 6 hours, having begun at 3:50pm and having ended around 10pm.

Although Covid passes are no longer required to enter indoor or outdoor premises in the UK, some countries still require them in order to travel. The malfunction caused some chaos at airport check-in, and understandably so.

Sky News reported that the error message read:

We are sorry the NHS COVID pass is currently unavailable. At this time there is no alternative route for accessing this information via the NHS App or online

Disgruntled passengers urge NHS to fix glitch

Unable to access their vaccination documents, passengers could not check-in for their flights online or in-person.

Comments about the disruption spanned from passengers hoping their destination countries would ‘just go with it’ to extremely agitated.

According to The Guardian, an unnamed traveler tweeted:

It is unacceptable to leave people without a workaround – we are flying out to Spain in the early hours for our first family holiday for five years and have no proof of vaccination!!

Another tweet read:

Instead of fixing the app, which is taking hours … Can Covid pass proof be sent by email to everyone with an NHS login? Or any other temporary fix so that people aren’t missing travel and holidays?

NHS apologises for the ‘inconvenience’ caused

Following the bug fix, the NHS issued a statement cited in BBC News:

Thank you for your patience and apologies for any inconvenience caused.

Based on some people’s experience, ‘inconvenience’ may well be an understatement. After all, many people are deciding to travel again for the first time since COVID’s outbreak. The disruption caused by the NHS app’s glitch, therefore, became a cause for calamity.

In a world evermore reliant on technology, it’s not unlikely that the events of yesterday evening could happen again – so buckle your seatbelts.

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