BIG NEWS: Singapore opens to UK travellers, with a few caveats

In surprise news, Singapore are opening their doors to UK travellers with a catch or three, making it the first Asian country to allow visitors from this part of the world.

Vaccinated Travel Lanes are the way forward…

…for Singapore at least. These may sound familiar to UK readers and the concept is similar to the short-lived travel corridors from late-2020 for quarantine free travel from England to a number of international destinations. Vaccinated Travel Lanes (or VTL) is essentially the same. For incoming passengers to Singapore, those who are vaccinated with a Singapore-approved vaccination are allowed entry into the Republic of Singapore - even if it’s just for a touristic trip. Let’s take a deeper dive in this programme.

What are the vaccination requirements?

The vaccine you have been given must be WHO approved, which covers all vaccinations given in the UK including Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca (all types). You must ensure that the interim period between both doses adheres to the advice of the Singapore government. These periods are:

Pfizer-BioNTech: 17 days
AstraZeneca - 24 days
Moderna - 24 days

This may cause issues for some people as the minimum period between some of the vaccines was 14-21 days. However, this is unlikely to affect most UK readers as the second dose appointment was often as late as 8 weeks after the first dose. There is no maximum interval stated.

Proving your vaccination status

This will be a breeze for UK readers. The Singapore Government advises travellers to use the NHS Covid Pass from the NHS mobile app. They do not state whether the paper based NHS certificate is accepted or not but I would advise to carry both just in case in the event of travel.

Who can travel to Singapore?

Clearly, from this article, you will be able to travel from the UK to Singapore. This kicks in on the 19th October 2021. The same applies for the following countries:

Denmark
France
Italy
Netherlands
Spain
United States
South Korea (from 15th November)

Germany and Brunei already have VTLs in place for quarantine travel to the city-state.

Checks. Checks. Checks.

Although at first glass the Vaccinated Travel Pass may seem similar to a Passenger Locator Form for the UK, it’s a bit more advanced. Firstly, it needs to be submitted 7 and 30 days prior to your entry date into Singapore. The VTP then requires you to submit details on:

Travel movements in the past 14 days (this will inform if you are eligible to enter)
Vaccination certification
Flight booking details
Accommodation whilst in Singapore
Visa proof if required

There is probably more to this process, but the Singapore Government website is quite opaque on the steps of it. Once approved, you’ll then be given the ‘green light’ with proof to enter the Republic of Singapore.

Booking flights

Here’s where things get a bit strange. There are dedicated VTL flights which you must take in order to be eligible to travel to Singapore. This excludes any connecting itineraries - so there is no chance of you taking a flight to Singapore via Doha on Qatar Airways because there is no VTL scheme for the State of Qatar.

Even weirder is that not all direct flights are VTL-eligible. Singapore Airlines currently operate three flights per day from London Heathrow to Singapore Changi. These are all direct, non-stop flights however only the SQ 317 departing Heathrow at 10h55 is a designated VTL service. British Airways are listed as VTL operator, however they have not announced which of their flights are going to be designated as useful for a VTL passenger. You should not assume that because British Airways operate one flight to Singapore per day that every flight will accept VTL passengers. It could be entirely feasible that a British Airways flight operating on Monday, Wednesday and Friday is designated as being VTL-proof - even though there’s nothing materially different to the flight operating on the other days besides checking you are acceptable to enter Singapore. This is speculation of course but there is precedent. Under the Singapore-Germany VTL, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines and Scoot all are operating VTL flights but not every day of the week.

Reading the announcement from the Singapore Government, you would be able to travel from the UK to one of the other VTL countries to then take a flight from there. For example, you could:

Fly from London to Amsterdam on British Airways
Take the designated VTL flight on KLM or Singapore Airlines to Singapore

You should also note that the concept of VTL flights do not exist for flights departing from Singapore. You could feasibly book a one-way VTL flight to Singapore with one airline and then select another airline to fly back with, including one of the super-connectors like Emirates, Turkish or Qatar.

Testing, tracing and more…

All entrants require a PCR test 48 hours prior to entry into Singapore. This is a quick turnaround for getting results, so I would recommend to go to an in-person centre such as Express Test by Cignpost who operate the test stations at transport hubs in the UK. Visitors to Singapore also have to pre-book a test on arrival as another barrier of defence for Singapore’s Covid protection strategy. You will have to self-isolate in your Singapore hotel until you have received your negative result, although reading online these have a pretty quick turnaround. Once in the country, you have to install the TraceTogether app. This is similar to the NHS Covid-19 app to support contact tracing efforts.

Thoughts on the VTL?

As noted in my article in July, Singapore are pushing the boundaries for Covid reopening and are at the forefront when compared to their Asian counterparts. They’ve abandoned the Covid-zero goals that are gradually being left behind as the pandemic becomes endemic - with China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan the only hold-outs remaining. As for the VTL itself, it’s a step in the right direction for Asia’s reopening plans - even if there’s a lot of bureaucracy and red-tape involved. This is the norm, at least for now, and it’s unlikely to change for quite a while. It would be better if any direct flight from a VTL country to Singapore was expected, but this is what we have to deal with for now. It also seems strange that Germany, the Netherlands and France are on the VTL list, but a resident in Belgium would be ineligible. I suspect aspects like this will be ironed out in due course.

I have some hope that unlike the UK’s Travel Corridors of 2020 that travellers will be at less risk of the VTL being closed at short notice - even though this could theoretically happen. Why am I more confident? Here’s some reasons:

Vaccination is compulsory for travel in the VTL with good rates in the UK and excellent uptake in Singapore
UK Covid Rates, albeit high, are stable over the past few months, whilst Singapore is surging from a low base - if they are willing to accept vaccinated UK passengers shows a change in the city-state’s direction
UK death and hospitalisations are stable and akin to seasonal flu - although every extra death or long Covid disease is still a tragedy for the patient and their families

The decision to allow VTLs with high case rate countries like the UK and USA but simultaneously with very safe countries like Germany shows that the policy is political in nature. The Singaporean Government are prioritising reopening safely and cautiously to their most important outbound markets - even if this changes the game for their Covid strategy going forward. This decision will allow Singapore to remain the regional hub for business, tourism and travel connections, beating Hong Kong in the process, to maintain their leadership position for the Asian continent.

I expect Singapore’s plans will set a blueprint for the rest of Asia Pafcific to follow - and I can’t wait for it!

If you’re interested in finding out more about the Singapore VTL scheme, I highly recommend checking out MainlyMiles.com. It’s a Singapore-based site focussing on maximising use of miles in the South East Asia region with lots of info on Singapore Airlines, KrisFlyer & Singaporean travel itself. There is even a four-part series on their experience of using the VTL between Singapore and Germany - take a look here.