A day after announcing a vaccinated travel lane (VTL) with South Korea, Singapore revealed eight more VTL partners: Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, the UK and the US.
All of the VTLs will commence on Oct. 19.
The number of COVID-19 PCR tests required for entering Singapore will also be reduced from four to two, cancelling the need for Day 3 and Day 7 tests during a passenger's stay in the island nation. The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore said the removal of the Day 3 and Day 7 PCR tests will “help reduce cost and improve convenience for VTL travelers.”
Singapore Airlines (SIA), Air France and KLM all announced the launch of dedicated VTL flights, and passengers are allowed to fly with a mixed itinerary as long the arrival and departure countries are approved VTL partners. The SIA website crashed momentarily following the announcement by the government as people surged to make flight reservations.
IATA Asia-Pacific regional VP Philip Goh said he welcomed the move by the Singapore government, saying that “data-based decisions to open up borders progressively” will boost the air travel recovery.
“We recognize that the Asia-Pacific region has a different risk appetite, partly owing to lower vaccination rates in many parts of the region, but we hope this further easing of measures and expansion of Singapore’s border reopening will spur other markets to similarly navigate the their pathways towards restarting air travel,” Goh added.
Photo credit: Roslan Rahman/AFP/Getty Images
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