Malaysia has once again started the sale of air and land tickets to Singapore under the Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) programme. The VTL programme was suspended from 23 December 2021 to 20 January 2022 because of the rise in Omicron COVID-19 variant cases across the world.
Here’s what we know about the resumption of the Vaccinated Travel Lane programme
Addressing this development, Khairy Jamaluddin, the health minister of Malaysia, released a statement on 21 January 2022, which said that the VTL ticket sales will resume. However, there will be an assessment of the current COVID-19 situation in both countries because of the resumption of this step.
New VTL ticket sales (land and air) between Malaysia and Singapore will resume today. pic.twitter.com/QLFn3vR7rp
— Khairy Jamaluddin 🇲🇾🌺 (@Khairykj) January 21, 2022
The statement added that at the moment, Malaysia will only sell half of the original quota of the tickets for air and land travel. Increasing the number of tickets in future will solely depend on the assessment of the COVID-19 conditions in both countries.
The travellers who bought tickets after 20 January 2022, but before the announcement was made, will travel as per the rules set before the announcement.
What are the regulations of VTL?
Under the VTL programme, travellers entering Singapore via air or land will not have to quarantine.
Currently, only Malaysia has resumed the VTL programme with Singapore. VTL travellers will have to take a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test or an Antigen Rapid Test (ART) within two days before flying to Singapore. They will also have to take a PCR test upon arrival.
On the third and the seven days of arrival, visitors will have to take a supervised ART and on days two, four, five and six, travellers will have to take a self-administered ART.
According to the official website of Singapore Airlines, VTL flights from Perth, Australia, will resume on 5 February 2022. Other countries that have had VTL associations with Singapore in the past are Brunei, Cambodia, Canada, Denmark, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Maldives, the Netherlands, the Republic of Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.
(Main and Feature Image Credit: Swapnil Bapat/Unsplash)
