Singapore, Mar 4: Vaccinated air travellers from all Indian cities and from Penang in Malaysia and Bali in Indonesia will be able to enter Singapore without having to undergo any mandatory quarantine from March 16, a senior minister announced on Friday.
Transport Minister S Iswaran said Singapore plans to press on with the safe reopening of its borders and reclaim its position as a global business and aviation hub.
The Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) for India will be extended beyond Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai to include all cities in India, Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said.
Likewise, vaccinated air travellers will be able to enter Singapore from more cities in Malaysia and Indonesia without having to serve quarantine. The VTL extension to cities in these countries is from March 16 this year.
The VTL for Malaysia will extend beyond Kuala Lumpur to include Penang, starting with four daily flights each way, while the VTL for Indonesia will extend beyond Jakarta to include Bali, starting with two daily flights.
“Happy to announce that we will take further steps to expand our VTLs, as part of our plans to press on with the safe reopening of our borders and reclaim Singapore’s position as a global business and aviation hub,” minister Iswaran said in a Facebook post.
“Airlines that plan to operate from these points under the VTL may submit their plans for designated flights to the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) for approval,” the Channel News Asia quoted CAAS as saying.
Travellers from Vietnam and Greece are also being allowed to enter Singapore under the VTL on or after March 16.
Since September 8 last year, Singapore has established VTLs with 30 countries and regions.
As of Thursday, CAAS has issued 348,518 vaccinated travel passes to travellers from these countries and regions to enter Singapore between September 8, 2021, and Mar 16.
A total of 456,215 VTL travellers have entered Singapore. CAAS said the extension of the VTLs will help facilitate travel and “densify” Singapore air hub’s connectivity with “key markets”. (PTI)