It’s safe to say the Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) arrangement between Singapore and India hasn’t been off to the best of starts. Barely a day after the VTL commenced on 29 November, India designated Singapore as an “at-risk” location, requiring travellers to do a seven-day home quarantine upon arrival.
But now there’s some good news: India has announced that effective from 9 December 2021, Singapore has been removed from its list of “at-risk” countries. This paves the way for fully vaccinated travellers from Singapore to enter India without quarantine once more.
India removes quarantine requirement for travellers from Singapore
From 9 December 2021, Singapore has been removed from India’s list of “at-risk” countries. This means that self-isolation is no longer required for those with a Singapore travel history.
Instead, travellers from Singapore to India will need to:
- Take a PCR test within 72 hours of departure to India (aged 4 and under are exempt)
- Complete a Self-Declaration Form (also available in hard copy)
- Monitor their health for 14 days
India conducts PCR tests on a random sample of passengers, so be advised you may be selected for a further test on arrival (and have to pay for it out of your own pocket).
Travellers from Countries excluding those Countries at risk, will be allowed to leave the airport and shall self-monitor their health for 14 days’ post arrival. A sub-section (2% of the total flight passengers) shall undergo post-arrival testing at random at the airport on arrival.
-India Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (Source) |
Pre-departure PCR tests in Singapore start from S$107, with at-home swabs starting from S$138. For the full rundown of your options, refer to the article below.
VTL Flights to Singapore
Singapore Airlines has announced the following VTL flight schedule from India to Singapore, with service from Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai.
| Chennai – Singapore | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 29 November 2021 – 26 March 2022 | |||
| SQ529 | Daily | 11:15pm – 5:55am (+1) | Boeing 787-10 |
| Delhi – Singapore | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 29 November 2021 – 26 March 2022 | |||
| SQ403 | Daily | 9:50pm – 6:10am (+1) | Boeing 787-10 |
| Mumbai – Singapore | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 29 November 2021 – 26 March 2022 | |||
| SQ423 | Daily | 11:35pm – 7:30am (+1) | Airbus A350-900 |
Additional VTL flights are operated by Air India, Indigo and Vistara as follows:
- Air India
- AI382 from Delhi to Singapore (daily)
- AI342 from Mumbai to Singapore (Tue, Wed)
- Indigo
- 6E51 from Chennai to Singapore (daily)
- Vistara
- UK105 from Mumbai to Singapore (Mon, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun)
Additional VTL testing requirements
Singapore has tightened its testing regime for VTL arrivals from 7 December 2021 onwards.
Travellers aged 2 and above now need to undergo daily testing for the first seven days upon arriving in Singapore, as illustrated below:
| 🇸🇬 Testing Regime for travel to Singapore | |
| Day | Test |
| Within 2 days before departure | Professional ART/PCR |
| Day 1 (arrival) | Air VTL: PCR Land VTL: ART |
| Day 2 | Self-administered ART |
| Day 3 | Supervised ART |
| Day 4 | Self-administered ART |
| Day 5 | Self-administered ART |
| Day 6 | Self-administered ART |
| Day 7 | Supervised ART |
| Professional ART= Someone swabs you Self-administered ART= You swab yourself, unsupervised Supervised ART= You swab yourself, supervised | |
ART swabs are all self-administered, with the Day 3 & 7 tests conducted under supervision at a Combined Test Centre (CTC) or Quick Test Centre (QTC) by 2130 hours on the relevant days.
| QTC/CTC Locations |
| Book Appointment |
| Children aged 3 to 12 must be accompanied by a caregiver aged 21 years old and above for supervised ART swabbing. The caregiver may be required to help administer the test if the child is unable to do so. |
On Days 2, 4, 5 and 6, tests will be unsupervised and done at home (these must be done before going out for activities on that day). Travellers must submit their results from Days 2, 4, 5 and 6 tests via the portal below.
| Report ART result (Land) |
| Report ART result (Air) |
This means that round-trip travellers from Singapore to India can expect to do a total of nine COVID-19 tests.
| ⚕️ VTL Testing Regime | ||
| Location | Remarks | Price |
| 🇸🇬 Singapore | 72h before departure (PCR) | From S$107 |
| 🇮🇳 India | 2 days before departure (ART/PCR) | Varies |
| 🇸🇬 Singapore | On arrival at Changi (PCR) | S$125 |
| 🇸🇬 Singapore | Day 2 (ART) | ~S$5 |
| 🇸🇬 Singapore | Day 3 (Supervised ART) | S$15 |
| 🇸🇬 Singapore | Day 4 (ART) | ~S$5 |
| 🇸🇬 Singapore | Day 5 (ART) | ~S$5 |
| 🇸🇬 Singapore | Day 6 (ART) | ~S$5 |
| 🇸🇬 Singapore | Day 7 (Supervised ART) | S$15 |
Conclusion
India has lifted the quarantine requirement on travellers from Singapore, which allows for two-way quarantine-free travel between the two countries once more.
This should be a boost for Singapore Airlines and Changi Airport, given the importance of India as an inbound, outbound and transit market. SIA was quick to resume 51 weekly flights to India once restrictions were lifted, and the removal of quarantine should boost load factors.
Imagine being labelled at-risk by a country that sits number 2 on COVID cases ITD. What an insult.
Well Singapore sits in the “Do Not Travel” category of the number 1 country. Hardly an insult.
Excellent news. Should mean Xmas at my condo is a lot quieter and I can actually enjoy the pool again.