Singapore: Travel agencies expect to receive more enquiries for travel to Germany and some are planning to offer new packages, after Singapore announced on Thursday (Aug 19) to launch its first vaccinated travel lanes with Germany and Brunei on Sep 8.
Under the travel lanes, fully vaccinated travellers departing from Germany or Brunei can enter Singapore without serving a stay-home notice.
However, they must undergo multiple COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests – a pre-departure test within 48 hours of the scheduled flight, an on-arrival test at Changi Airport, and post-arrival tests on days three and seven at a designated clinic in Singapore.
Failing to complete the required tests is a chargeable offence under the Infectious Diseases Act. Those who do not comply may be issued a stay-home notice to be quarantined in a dedicated facility, authorities said.
A person is considered fully vaccinated two weeks after they have received both doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna or other vaccines listed under the World Health Organization (WHO) emergency use list, such as Sinovac and AstraZeneca.
This means that children under the age of 12, who cannot be vaccinated yet, will not be able to travel under this scheme.
The National Association of Travel Agents Singapore (NATAS) expects an increase in enquiries as well, especially for year-end vacations to Germany, mentioned the group’s president Steven Ler.
“Many factors do come into play affecting the actual buying patterns of different travel personas. In addition, we do not dismiss the possibility of reopening of more countries under the VTL (vaccinated travel lane) in the upcoming months which means travellers may enjoy more travel options,” he added.
Following the announcement of the vaccinated travel lanes to Germany and Brunei, Singapore Airlines said it has seen an increase in bookings.
Travellers coming back to Singapore from Germany or Brunei will have to travel on non-stop designated flights run by Singapore Airlines and Lufthansa or Royal Brunei Airlines respectively. These flights will only serve travellers on the vaccinated travel lanes.
Lufthansa will offer three weekly flights from Germany to Singapore, and two of these will be designated vaccine travel lane flights, said a spokesperson for the airline.
