The latest development is expected to lengthen an already extended plan to reopen borders. The country, heavily dependent on tourism, opened its borders to all fully-vaccinated travellers on 1 November.Īs for Japan, which still does not allow leisure travellers into the country, its government announced a ban on all foreign business travellers and students. It is a policy reversal days after the country announced it was substituting the PCR test with a cheaper and faster Antigen Rapid Test for travellers.
Thailand, meanwhile, is reportedly mulling the reintroduction of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for all fully-vaccinated travellers into the country.
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Other countries in the region too are mulling tightening general travel requirements.Īustralia, which in early November cracked open its borders for international travellers to enter, announced mandatory 72-hour quarantine for all international travellers into Sydney and Melbourne.Īlready, the country reported two cases of travellers testing positive for the Omicron variant on 28 November. Flag carrier Singapore Airlines previously stated that the scheme was pivotal in lifting demand since the roll-out in September.Īttempts to pare back the VTL scheme - or even completely suspend it - could throw a spanner in the works, both for SIA’s recovery plans, as well as Singapore’s battered tourism sector. The VTL scheme, which has been launched to 27 countries as of 26 November, is seen as a key step in Singapore’s efforts to restart safe international travel. It adds that it is reviewing other border measures and “will announce more details soon”. The “precautionary move to reduce the risks of importation and spread of the Omicron variant to Singapore” takes into account the three country’s “proximity as transport nodes to the affected countries”, says Singapore’s health ministry. The city-state was to have launched its Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) scheme to the three countries, which allows fully-vaccinated travellers to enter without quarantine, from 6 December. On 28 November, the Singapore government announced it was indefinitely postponing quarantine-free arrangements with three countries in the Middle East - Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
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Decade of Airline Excellence Awards 2020Īs scientists and health officials scramble to make sense of the new variant, countries in the region moved quickly to ban travel from a number of African nations, in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus.īut an initial series of travel bans is fast evolving into more wide-ranging restrictions that could impact the industry’s recovery prospects, especially amid the year-end travel season.