Singapore has become the first country to introduce Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) as several countries mull and implement various protocols such as air bubbles and vaccine passports to open up international travel in the aftermath of COVID-19. Starting September 8, VTLs will allow fully vaccinated travellers from Germany and Brunei to enter Singapore without the mandatory quarantine requirements. The fully vaccinated passengers will, however, have to apply for a Vaccine Travel Pass (VTP) with the Singapore government to travel on designated flights. Singapore citizens and permanent residents have been exempted.

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An individual will be considered fully vaccinated 14 days after receiving received recommended doses of a WHO-approved vaccine for emergency use. This includes the Serum Institute of India’s Covishield.

VTP applications are required to be submitted between seven to 30 calendar days before the intended date of entry into Singapore. Passengers arriving on VTL flights will still require an RT-PCR test done 48 hours ahead of the scheduled departure time and prepay for their post-arrival Day 3 and Day 7 COVID-19 PCR tests when applying for the VTP.

In addition to the designated VTP flights between Germany and Singapore (by Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines) and between Singapore and Brunei (by Royal Brunei Airlines and Singapore Airlines), usual flights from these countries and others will also be allowed entry. However, passengers travelling without VTP will have to undergo quarantine upon arrival in Singapore.

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Last week, Singapore had decided to scrap a travel bubble with Hong Kong as a result of a shift in its strategy toward becoming “a COVID-resilient nation,” according to ministry of transport.

Lufthansa will start operating its VTL flights between Germany’s Frankfurt and Singapore from September 16 twice a week on Thursdays and Saturdays. Singapore Airlines will operate its VTL flights between Frankfurt and Singapore on September 7 and between Munich and Singapore on September 8.