755 travellers from Germany, Brunei get approval to enter Singapore under new quarantine-free travel scheme

SINGAPORE — Since applications started on Wednesday (Sept 1) for a scheme to allow fully vaccinated travellers to enter Singapore without having to be quarantined as a safeguard against Covid-19, approval has been granted to a total of 755 travellers from Brunei and Germany. 

Releasing these figures on Thursday in response to media queries, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said that the first flight under the Vaccinated Travel Lane scheme is expected to arrive from Germany and Brunei on Sept 8 and 9 respectively. 

The authority said that as of 11.59pm on Wednesday, 735 travellers from Germany and 20 travellers from Brunei have received their travel pass to enter Singapore between Sept 8 and Oct 7.

Of the passes issued for Germany, 301 were issued to short-term visitors and 434 to long-term pass holders.

For Brunei, 18 travel passes were issued to short-term visitors, and two to long-term pass holders

The Vaccinated Travel Lane scheme was first announced by the Government on Aug 19 and TODAY previously reported that there will be seven flights from Germany weekly on the scheme.

Five will be serviced by Singapore Airlines (SIA) and the other two will be operated by German airline Lufthansa.

There will be three flights designated for fully vaccinated travellers from Brunei to Singapore each week, one of which is operated by SIA. The other two will be serviced by Royal Brunei Airlines.

CAAS said that fully vaccinated Singapore citizens and permanent residents do not need to apply for the Vaccinated Travel Pass to enter Singapore under the Vaccinated Travel Lane.

There will be “no restrictions on the purpose of travel and no requirement for a controlled itinerary or sponsor”, it added.

However, it said that all travellers under the Vaccinated Travel Lane will have to comply strictly with the conditions of travel.

Among others, these conditions include:

• Being fully vaccinated in their country of departure or Singapore

• Having remained in their country of departure in the last 21 consecutive days before their departure for Singapore

• Undergoing multiple Covid-19 polymerase chain reaction tests in lieu of stay-home notice. These include a pre-departure test within 48 hours of the scheduled departure flight, on-arrival test at Changi Airport and post-arrival tests at one of the designated clinics in Singapore on the third and seventh day during their stay

• Travelling on non-stop designated Vaccinated Travel Lane flights from their country of departure to Singapore that will only serve travellers on the lane

CAAS' director-general Han Kok Juan said that this is a cautious start to the scheme.

“It will allow us to gain experience and build confidence as we further reopen our borders and reconnect with the world in a careful and step-by-step manner.”