Singapore will launch new “Vaccinated Travel Lanes (VTL)” for travelers from 8 more countries on Oct. 19, announced the country’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAAS).
The travel agreement has been extended to vaccinated visitors from Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, the UK, and the U.S.
These VTLs come on top of the Ministry of Transport’s announcement on Friday that a reciprocal VTL between Singapore and South Korea will also be starting on Nov. 15.
Together with Brunei and Germany, the overall number of nations with VTLs in Singapore has increased from two to eleven in just one month.
Despite accounting for only a fraction of Singapore’s pre-pandemic arrivals, these nations are among Singapore’s top 20 business partners.
Their robust commercial presence and substantial investments were key factors in their selection as the first countries to reopen.
“We aim to restore safe two-way quarantine-free travel with more countries and regions from around the world, and are engaged in several discussions to that end,” said the minister.
Like any other Asian country, Singapore has enforced severe domestic and international restrictions.
As a matter of fact, every person who remains unvaccinated by Wednesday will be barred from entering malls and eating at the country’s numerous commercial centers. The country will also be reviewing some COVID-19 curbs in two weeks.
New Entry Rules
Currently, Singapore demands all of its visitors to present 4 PCR tests and serve a 14-day quarantine.
VTL visitors will see these numbers lowered to only 2 PCR tests and 0 quarantine days.
The first test should be taken within 48 hours of their departure to Singapore and the second one upon arrival at Changi Airport.
The self-isolation is now reduced to the time travelers will spend while awaiting their negative results.
“The MOH’s (Ministry of Health) public health assessment is that the pre-departure test and on-arrival test provide sufficient safeguards for detecting and isolating imported COVID-19 cases,” said CAAS.
Scrapping the third and the fourth PCR tests will make traveling under the VTL scheme more affordable and comfortable, it added.