Vaccinated Travel Lanes (VTL) to Singapore now available in Penang, Bali, all India cities, Vietnam, and Greece
On March 4th, Singapore added new vaccinated travel lanes (VTLs) for Vietnam and Greece, as well as to more cities in Malaysia, Indonesia and India.
According to The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS), air VTL for Malaysia will now be available in Kuala Lumpur and also in Penang starting from March 16th, with four daily flights each way between Penang and Singapore.
On the same date, air VTL for Indonesia will include Jakarta and Bali. Two daily flights will be made available for booking from Bali-Denpasar to Singapore.
In Transport Minister S Iswaran’s Facebook post, he said that he plans to launch a trial to allow vaccinated travellers to enter Bali starting mid-March. “We will likewise extend the VTL (Air) to Bali from March 16th”, he added.
As of now, the VTL for India is available in Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai. The lanes are expected to eventually include all cities.
“Airlines that plan to operate from these points under the VTL may submit their plans for designated flights to CAAS for approval,” said the authority.
New VTLs with Vietnam and Greece
As Vietnam is planning to reopen its borders from March 15th, CAAS will seize the opportunity to launch VTL between Vietnam and Singapore. “With the launch of the VTL from Vietnam, we will restore two-way quarantine-free travel with Vietnam, which was a popular destination for many Singaporeans before COVID,” it added.
Vaccinated travellers can expect the VTL between Vietnam and Singapore to open on or after March 16th.
“Taken together, the VTLs with Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam will deepen connectivity with our ASEAN neighbours, with whom we have long standing economic and people-to-people ties,” said Mr Iswaran.
Vaccinated travel pass for these countries will be open for application on Mar 13th at 10am. This is required for work permit holders and eligible short-term visitors.
“Non-Malaysian work permit holders in the construction, marine shipyard and process sector, as well as work permit holders who are staying in dormitories are not allowed to enter Singapore via VTL.
Fully vaccinated Singaporeans, permanent residents, all other long-term pass holders and in-principle approval (IPA) holders do not need to apply for the pass. Children below the age of 12 in the calendar year are also excused.
Quiet Relics of the Past
The additional VTL with Greece means that Singapore has now secured two-way quarantine-free travel with all countries in Europe.
“To enable greater flexibility for travellers visiting or coming from Europe to plan their journeys, CAAS will also broaden the travel history requirement for the VTL to include the entire European Economic Area,” said the authority.
The European Economic Area represents the 27 EU member states, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. People are free to travel between these countries.
Travellers from Europe will enjoy the broadening of travel history requirements on or after March 16.
Travellers who have visited any country in the European Economic Area, including transit stops, within the last seven consecutive days before departure to Singapore, may count their stay in those countries towards fulfilling the seven-day VTL travel history requirement.
More than 450,000 VTL travellers
Since Sep 8th last year, Singapore has launched VTLs with 30 countries and regions.
As of Mar 3rd, CAAS has issued 348,518 vaccinated travel passes to travellers from these countries and regions to enter Singapore, whereas a total of 456,215 travellers have entered Singapore through the VTL.
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Types of VTL Travellers Number of travellers Short-term visitors
132,099 Long-term and IPA pass holders
119,289 Singaporeans and PRs
167,380 Children aged 12 and below
37,447
“Malaysia and Indonesia are our closest neighbours. We started the VTL (Air) with flights from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and Jakarta in Indonesia in November last year,” said Mr Iswaran.
It was recorded that more than 80,000 travellers from Malaysia have entered Singapore via the VTL (Air) from Kuala Lumpur airport as of Feb 28th.
CAAS said that the addition of VTLs will help facilitate travel and “densify” the Singapore air hub’s connectivity with key markets.
“As the global COVID-19 situation evolves, CAAS will continue to monitor the public health situation closely and stand ready to adjust our border measures with the appropriate safeguards quickly to ensure public health and safety,” the authority said, “this will enable us to transition safely and confidently towards a COVID-19 resilient nation.”
