Friday, November 22, 2024

Singapore is fully open for travel from all Indian cities

Transport Minister S Iswaran said that Singapore planned to go ahead with the safe reopening of its borders and get back to its position as a global business and aviation hub

PRAVASISAMWAD.COM

 

Vaccinated air travellers from all Indian cities and from Penang in Malaysia and Bali in Indonesia will be able to enter Singapore without having to undergo any mandatory quarantine from March 16. Transport Minister S Iswaran said that Singapore planned to go ahead with the safe reopening of its borders and get back to its position as a global business and aviation hub.

The Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) for India will be extended beyond Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai to include all cities in India. Similarly, fully vaccinated air travellers will be able to enter Singapore from cities in Malaysia and Indonesia without having to be in quarantine.

The VTL for Malaysia will extend beyond Kuala Lumpur to include Penang, starting with four daily flights each way, while the VTL for Indonesia will extend beyond Jakarta to include Bali, starting with two daily flights.

“Happy to announce that we will take further steps to expand our VTLs, as part of our plans to press on with the safe reopening of our borders and reclaim Singapore’s position as a global business and aviation hub,” Minister Iswaran said in a Facebook post.

 

Since September 8 last year, Singapore has established VTLs with 30 countries and regions. As of March 3, CAAS has issued 348,518 vaccinated travel passes to travellers from these countries and regions to enter Singapore between September 8, 2021, and March 16

 

“Airlines that plan to operate from these points under the VTL may submit their plans for designated flights to the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) for approval,” the Channel News Asia quoted CAAS as saying.

 

G B Srithar, Regional Director, IMESA (India, Middle East & South Asia), Singapore Tourism Board, said, “The extension of VTL to Singapore from all Indian cities, provides the much needed impetus to travel between the countries for all traveller types, whether for leisure, business or cruise. This is part of Singapore’s calibrated and progressive approach in re-opening our borders.  Over the past year and a half, we had continued engaging the consumers and travel trade through a myriad of content and virtual experiences. We had recently launched a “Reserve in Singapore” consumer engagement activation under our SingapoReimagine campaign and are glad that more travellers from India may now start to plan their trips and reserve their experiences in Singapore. We look forward to sharing Singapore’s new, reimagined tourism offerings and experiences with our Indian visitors.”

India is a key source market for Singapore – the third-largest in 2019. Even as the pandemic halted international travel for close to 18 months, STB India continued to build destination affinity with Indian consumers through innovative marketing – such as an art collaboration between acclaimed Indian Gond artist Bhajju Shyam and Singaporean artist Sam Lo titled ‘Dancing In Unison’ to highlight the art and cultural heritage of both countries, curating the Chhota Bheem animated series to take younger audiences on a virtual trip of the destination as well as giving them a taste of Singapore’s diverse cuisine through a month-long collaboration with Foodhall India in celebration of the Singapore Food Festival 2021.

Since September 8 last year, Singapore has established VTLs with 30 countries and regions. As of March 3, CAAS has issued 348,518 vaccinated travel passes to travellers from these countries and regions to enter Singapore between September 8, 2021, and March 16.

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Roma Ghosh
Roma Ghosh
Roma Ghosh has recently retired as Associate Professor for Media Studies from an international university. She was with the Times of India as a correspondent for many years. Her passion is cooking and she has been doing recipes and photo shoots for Women's Era for the last 15-odd years.

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