Singapore to progressively extend vaccinated travel lane flights to India

Singapore's civil aviation regulator plans to progressively extend Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) flights to more cities in India.

India and Singapore agreed to resume passenger flights from November 29 under an air transport bubble agreement. Air India, IndiGo, Singapore Airlines and Vistara have announced flights between the two countries.

According to this agreement 6 daily VTL flights would be operated from Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai to Singapore allowing vaccinated passengers quarantine free travel. Passengers travelling from other cities on a non-VTL flight have to undergo a 7-day quarantine at the declared place of accommodation in Singapore.

“Singapore takes a cautious and step-by-step approach in reviving air travel. For India, we have launched a VTL for travellers from Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai for a start. Pre-COVID, these three cities presented strong travel demand. We will extend the VTL to more cities in India progressively,” Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore said in an email response.

“Regardless of their first point of departure, eligible travellers travelling on VTL flights and entering Singapore do not need to serve quarantine, as long as they meet the travel history requirement of the VTL,” CAAS added.

Singapore Airlines group is operating non-VTL flights to Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kochi and Trichy and these services will resume between November 30-December 2. Flights to Amritsar will start from January 31 and these would be operated by low cost arm Scoot.

Singapore is implementing differentiated border measures for countries based on health risk. This includes operation of VTL and non-VTL flights from 18 countries including India. It has put on hold VTL flights from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE following the Omicron variant scare.

In addition to vaccination, passengers travelling on a VTL flight need to take a pre-departure and on arrival Covid-19 test in Singapore. The passenger also needs to self isolate for 24 hours until the test report is negative. Indian regulations require passengers to take pre-departure and on arrival Covid-19 test since Singapore has been classified as an “at risk” country.

“We are happy to see the start of VTL flights from Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai. It is a cautious reopening of the borders considering the Covid-19 pandemic situation,” said G B Srithar, regional director of Singapore Tourism Board.

“Singapore Airlines remains guided by regulators. We will continue to monitor travel demand patterns and remain nimble and flexible in adjusting our capacity subject to approvals,” the airline said.