Travelport has introduced a booking code for nonbinary
gender travelers, giving them the option to choose "X" instead of "M"
or "F."
"Travelport has pledged to make the code available to
all of the 480 airlines on its platform who choose to adopt it," the
company said in a statement. "A number of these, such as United, American
Airlines and Delta, have confirmed they are preparing to bring in the new code
option. Others are expected to follow."
According to Travelport, those traveling or in transit to
Algeria, Canada, China (except Hong Kong), Iran, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Mexico,
Morocco, Pakistan, South Africa, Spain, Syria, Thailand, the U.S. and the
United Arab Emirates currently need to provide their gender in advance.
The "X" option has to be matched to the traveler's
identity document. Countries that enable options other than "M" or "F"
on passports include Argentina, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, India,
Ireland, Malta, New Zealand, Nepal, the Netherlands and Pakistan.