Digital driving licence: is it valid for traveling by plane?

At the end of a rather long testing phase, the digital driving license is finally available. Anyone who owns a smartphone and a digital identity, be it the Spid (Public Digital Identity System) or the Cie (Electronic Identity Card), can request the digital equivalent of the driving license in a few moments via the Io app. In the event of a roadside check by the police, the digital version of the document it is worth the same as a plastic or paper driving licence. A real convenience for many and it is not surprising that, after just a few days, the digital driving license is already a success. In fact, in the first seven days of availability theIt-Wallet, the “digital wallet” which also contains the digital health card and the European disability card, was activated by 2.4 million Italians with 1.7 million digital driving licenses requested. The question many are asking, however, is whether this new digital document is valid for traveling on national soil. Let’s see together what you need to know.

INDICATIONS

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The only clear and unequivocal indication received from the Ministry on the “spendability” of the digital driving license concerns i controls. From day one, show your “classic” digital driving licence, i.e. plastic or paper, or digital, therefore the one that remains stored on your smartphone in the Io app, at a Police, Carabinieri or Guardia di Finanza roadside checkpoint it is completely indifferent: the two forms of the driving license are equivalenteven if for the moment only on Italian territory. Until there is a single digital standard, law enforcement agencies in other European countries will only accept physical driving licenses. The Ministry did not provide other indications on validity of the new tool, and since the driving license is one of the most used identification documents for boarding national scheduled flights, it is reasonable to ask whether the new digital license can also be used in these situations.

FLYING WITH DIGITAL

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Let’s cut the corner straight away: although it is possible to register for boarding with a driving license to fly to Italy, at the moment it is not possible to do this with the digital driving licence. The legislation is not very clear, probably because airline staff tend to wish a good trip also to those who, by choice or necessity, want to move around Italy carrying only their smartphone with them, since the driving license – for years – it is equivalent to an identity card. But by asking various professionals, including airlines and flight staff, it emerged as at the moment The physical document is still required to board the plane.