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SINGAPORE will expand the travel route scheme for tourists who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 or vaccinated travel lane (VTL) to more countries, including Indonesia, starting on November 29.
According to Singapore’s Minister of Transportation S. Iswaran said that through this provision foreign tourists, including those from Indonesia, were not required to undergo quarantine when visiting Singapore. Singapore plans to launch VTL with Indonesia and India on November 29, then with Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on December 6.
However, Iswaran said the current VTL system with Indonesia is still one-sided, because the Indonesian government has not allowed tourists from Singapore to visit the country.
“We hope that Indonesia will soon reopen its borders for tourists from Singapore,” said Iswaran, quoted from Channel News Asia, Tuesday (11/16).
For starters, there will be two daily flight services between Singapore and Jakarta. This will gradually be increased to four services.
Meanwhile, applications for short-term visitors and long-term passport holders will start on November 22 for tourists from India and Indonesia. Tourists from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE will be able to register from November 29.
Meanwhile Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said that Singapore will continue to monitor the situation around the world closely, and ensure that the opening of travel does not burden the country’s healthcare system.
“Previously, Singapore and India had already discussed the recognition of vaccination certificates. Since 12 November, India has started receiving vaccination certificates issued by Singapore. This means that tourists from Singapore who have been fully vaccinated entering India no longer need to undergo post-arrival quarantine, they only need to self-monitor for 14 days after arrival,” he said.
Singapore’s Ministry of Health has also updated its population health assessment, and will upgrade India’s status to Category 2 from 19 November.
Iswaran said his party was discussing the resumption of scheduled commercial passenger services with India. The discussion aims to resume two daily VTL flights to Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai on 29 November respectively.
To date, Singapore has launched 13 VTLs, including Australia, Canada and Germany. Travelers under VTL are not required to undergo quarantine upon arrival. Instead, they simply show a negative PCR test result taken within two days prior to departure, and undergo a PCR test on arrival. [sources/photo special]
