Finland has announced plans to trial digital passports that would allow people to travel without needing paper documents.

Instead, travellers would use a mobile app that holds digital copies of essential travel documents.

If the test goes ahead, Finland will be the first EU country to trial digital passports.

A successful trial would be a strong step towards implementing digital passports across the whole of the EU.

However, Europeans shouldn't ditch their paper passports quite yet.

According to Mikko Väisänen, an inspector at the Finnish Border Guard, the Finnish government must finish drafting a funding application, which will be submitted to the European Commission by the end of the month.

Once funding is approved, a pilot test would be held at Helsinki Airport for flights between Finland and Croatia for a select group of volunteers.

Volunteers would still need their paper passport but would also be given a mobile app to download onto their phone, which will allow them to share information with border security.

If the test is successful, it would allow the European Commission to present a proposal for implementing digital passports in all EU countries.

Digital passports wouldn't just make life easier for travellers (especially those prone to losing or forgetting their passport) but help border checks run more efficiently, said Väisänen.

Even in 2019, before Covid-19 transformed the travel landscape, the need for resource-saving technology in airports was apparent.

Christoph Wolff, Head of Mobility at the World Economic Forum, said electronic, paperless systems could be key in helping manage demand.

"By 2030, international air arrivals are expected to reach 1.8 billion passengers, up 50 per cent from 2016. Under today's systems, airports cannot keep up with this growth," he said.

Wolff said digital identity technology could be the answer.

If Finland's application is accepted, the trial would begin at the end of 2022.

Passports in New Zealand

In 2005, New Zealand rolled out an 'e-passport', which uses a silicon microchip to link passport holders to a digitised version of their photograph and other biodata.

Due to a peak in demand as borders opened around the world, the wait for a standard passport has increased from one month to six weeks.