FRANKFURT-SINGAPORE
BACKGROUND On September 8, 2021, Singapore opened its borders to fully vaccinated travellers from Germany, although there are various stringent requirements, detailed below.
The new initiative is called the Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) and is a new travel corridor for vaccinated persons, which can be used by both business travellers and holidaymakers to visit Singapore without quarantine restrictions. Germany along with the Sultanate of Brunei were the first countries to be signed up to the VTL, with a further eight countries added in October, including the UK, US and Canada, and South Korea from November 15. The VTL means that the previously mandatory quarantine of at least 14 days upon arrival in the city-state has been waived, and travellers can move freely in Singapore. This is in contrast to the Green Lane for business travellers, which was introduced in November 2020 and discontinued after a few weeks.
The first prerequisite for being able to enter Singapore quarantine-free under the new arrangement is the use of so-called VTL flights. Open only to vaccinated persons, they operated until October 30 by Singapore Airlines (SIA) three times a week from Frankfurt (always on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays) and twice a week from Munich (always on Mondays and Wednesdays). According to SIA, these times will not change during the winter. On Thursdays and Saturdays Lufthansa offers VTL flights from Frankfurt. Travellers from Singapore to Germany are not bound to VTL flights and therefore can currently enter without quarantine if vaccinated, tested or recovered (known as 3G, because in German it is geimpft, getestet, genesen). Booking for these flights is as normal, but the SIA website informs you of the steps you have to take before flying.
CHECK-IN I arrived at 1800 for my 2200 departure on SQ325. People were already standing at SIA’s check-in counters in Hall C of Terminal 1 at Frankfurt Airport. Many documents need checking, since Singapore’s bureaucratic requirements are high. All passengers must be fully vaccinated, have been in Germany for a minimum of 21 days, present a negative PCR test result no older than 48 hours, and have a Vaccinated Travel Pass (VTP). To get this, travellers must fill in a form and answer all kinds of health questions, and the VTP must be issued between seven and 30 days prior to their intended date of entry into Singapore. If accepted by the Singapore government, a traveller gets an official confirmation and a VTP. Also required is the SG Arrival Card and a booking confirmation for a further PCR t
