14 travellers from Brunei, New Zealand arrive in Singapore following partial easing of border restrictions

SINGAPORE — The first 14 passengers from Brunei and New Zealand, travelling under Singapore’s partially eased border restrictions that apply to visitors from those countries, arrived here on Tuesday (Sept 8).

In a reply to media queries, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said that five of the visitors had arrived from Brunei while the remaining nine were from New Zealand.

A total of 136 Air Travel Passes have been issued so far under the eased border arrangements, with 59 for travellers from Brunei and 77 for those coming from New Zealand.

CAAS said that visitors from the two countries may enter Singapore via the Air Travel Pass scheme because the coronavirus situation in both countries is “well under control and the risk of importation is low”.

Last month, the authorities here said that Singapore’s border restrictions will be partially eased from Sept 1 to allow people to travel to Brunei and New Zealand for general purposes including leisure, as well as for students to travel overseas for studies.

At the same time, travellers entering Singapore and who have remained in either Brunei or New Zealand in the two weeks before their entry will not be required to serve a stay-home notice.

CAAS said that visitors may apply for the single-entry Air Travel Pass between seven and 30 calendar days before their arrival in Singapore.

These short-term visitors must comply with the conditions of the pass. These include undergoing a Covid-19 test upon arrival at the airport instead of serving a stay-home notice, as well as downloading the TraceTogether moibile application for their entire period of stay.

These visitors, however, will be responsible for their own medical bills if they require treatment for Covid-19 while in Singapore, the Ministry of Health said last month.