Singapore will include Australia in its quarantine-free vaccinated travel lane (VTL) program from Nov 8, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) confirmed on Oct. 26.
“Singapore will allow fully vaccinated travelers from Australia to enter the territory without quarantine, for all purposes of travel,” said CAAS.
To be considered eligible, these future inbound tourists must undertake pre-departure (PCR) testing and agree to get retested upon arrival in Singapore.
Last week, Australia’s Prime Minister suggested that a quarantine-free travel corridor could be established shortly.
He said it would focus on vaccinated students and business visitors before expanding it to tourists.
In fact, the program is limited to fully vaccinated Australian citizens, permanent residents, and their immediate family members, for now.
“We also expect student and business pass holders from Singapore to be able to enter Australia after it has finalized the arrangement for their entry,” said CAAS earlier today.
The good news is that Australia is gearing up to reciprocate as it moves to the “live with Covid-19” strategy.
Thus, a two-way travel bubble for Singapore students and business pass holders has been scheduled for Nov. 23.
Singaporeans planning a leisure vacation to Australia will have to wait at least until December, which is when Canberra predicts it could reopen for international travelers.
The rest of Australia has said they continue working on reopening to more travelers in the future.
For its part, Singapore is confident that its scheme’s effective implementation has given CAAS the “experience and confidence” to expand it to new countries.
This may mean that Singapore could be announcing new reopenings shortly.
Of course, as most Asian countries Singapore will remain vigilant of any threats that can jeopardize the lives of its citizens as well as the economy of the nation.
“We will continue to do so in a cautious and step-by-step manner without compromising public health.”
As of today, 5,000 out of the 15,000 tourists who have been granted passes to use the VTL have visited Singapore.
The VTL scheme has also been offered to Switzerland, a country that had already opened its borders to all visitors from Singapore.