Yesterday Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan finally firmed up the date on which the state will open its borders to international travellers, confirming that from 5th February 2022 those fully vaccinated against COVID-19 arriving from overseas would be able to enter quarantine-free.
No arrivals cap will be applied for fully vaccinated travellers entering Western Australia from overseas, so passengers will be able to take any available flight into Perth.
Fully vaccinated travellers from Australia can already enter Singapore quarantine-free since 8th November 2021, but they must travel on one of the designated VTL flights from Sydney or Melbourne.
Darwin joins that list from 21st December, and we recently reported it was due to be followed by Adelaide and Brisbane from 15th January 2022, then Perth from 1st March 2022.
Perth VTL flights are now loaded from 5th February
Good news for the thousands of Singapore residents with close links to Western Australia, and vice-versa, is that Singapore Airlines has acted swiftly to the news and loaded 17 weekly VTL flights from Perth to Singapore right from day one of the border relaxation.
Update: SQ216 has returned to its pre-pandemic timing, and will be operated by a 3-class A350 Long Haul on Thursdays.
Perth – Singapore
VTL Flights
5th February 2022 – 26th March 2022
| Days | |||||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | |||
 |
SQ216 787-10 VTL |
||||||||
| PER 01:10 |
SIN 06:20 |
||||||||
|
SQ216 A350 Long Haul VTL |
||||||||
| PER 01:10 |
SIN 06:20 |
||||||||
|
SQ224 787-10 VTL |
||||||||
| PER 06:40 |
SIN 11:55 |
||||||||
|
SQ214 787-10 VTL |
||||||||
| PER 16:45 |
SIN 22:00 |
||||||||
Extension of the VTL programme beyond 26th March 2022 is expected to be announced soon, so for those planning travel from April 2022 onwards there are likely to still be many options for quarantine-free travel on this route (potentially up to five times daily with SIA).
Flights from Singapore to Perth are still impacted by the daily arrival caps (and therefore mostly unavailable for booking) until 1st March 2022, however we expect this restriction to be lifted soon. In any event, don’t expect to be able to travel there freely until 5th February, when the restrictions are eased and caps are lifted for vaccinated travellers.
Update: Singapore – Perth flights have now been loaded from 5th February 2021.
Singapore Airlines will exclusively operate the Boeing 787-10 on its Perth services in February and March next year, as it does today.
These feature 36 of the 2018 Regional Business Class seats, many of which are open for redemption on the route at saver award rates.
Redemption rates
These are the one-way KrisFlyer miles redemption rates for flights between Singapore and Perth on SIA.
| KrisFlyer Redemption Rates Perth to/from Singapore |
||
| Saver (one way) |
Advantage (one way) |
|
| Economy | 20,000 |
37,000 |
| Business | 36,500 |
65,000 |
The 36,500 miles rate for a saver award in Business Class is quite competitive for a 5-hour flight with a flat-bed product (you’ll fork out more than that to fly the shorter route to or from the Maldives in a 737-800 with recliner Business Class seats!).
Requirements when flying to Perth
Fully vaccinated travellers flying from overseas (including Singapore) to Western Australia from 5th February 2022 must have:
- A negative COVID-19 PCR test taken within 72 hours of their flight departure time, unless they are under five years of age.
- An on-arrival PCR test within 48 hours of touching down in Perth. Those younger than five years of age are again exempted.
- An additional PCR test on Day 6, if still in Western Australia.
The testing regime may be amended based on the state’s ongoing review process.
These are interim testing arrangements and are based on the current health advice. They will be subject to ongoing review, including one after four weeks from the transition date.
Government of Western Australia
Unvaccinated or partially vaccinated travellers will still need to quarantine for 14 days on arrival in Western Australia, however children under the age of 12 are exempt from this requirement.
Here’s our latest rundown of the cheapest locations to get a pre-departure PCR test suitable for travel in Singapore, starting at S$107.
There are even competitive options for those preferring to be tested at home, now starting at S$138.
How much will it cost?
Exact testing costs for a Perth trip will depend on whether the state will charge travellers for the on-arrival / Day 6 tests or not, which is subject to confirmation.
Here are the estimated minimum testing costs for a round-trip from Singapore to Perth and back.
🇦🇺 VTL
|
| Test | Cost |
| SG pre-departure (PCR)* | From S$107 |
| Perth on-arrival (PCR) | TBC |
| Perth Day 6 (PCR) | TBC |
| Perth pre-departure (ART)* | ~S$60 |
| SG arrival (PCR) | S$125 |
| SG Day 2 (self ART) | ~S$7 |
| SG Day 3 (supervised ART) | S$15 |
| SG Day 4 (self ART) | ~S$7 |
| SG Day 5 (self ART) | ~S$7 |
| SG Day 6 (self ART) | ~S$7 |
| SG Day 7 (supervised ART) | S$15 |
| Total | ~S$350+ |
* Prices vary between providers and locations.
In the best-case scenario, assuming on-arrival and Day 6 tests in Western Australia are free of charge, Singapore travellers are looking at a S$350 minimum testing cost for this VTL, assuming no changes to the testing regime.
Other airlines
In November, Singapore’s Jetstar Asia was already predicting the border relaxation in Western Australia, loading four times weekly Singapore – Perth – Singapore flights from 12th February 2022, as shown below.
From 12th February 2022
| Days | |||||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | |||
 |
3K131 A320 |
||||||||
| SIN 18:00 |
PER 23:15 |
||||||||
|
3K132 A320 |
||||||||
| PER 00:20 |
SIN 05:30 |
||||||||
Jetstar Asia last served the Singapore – Perth route in March 2018, around two years prior to the pandemic.
Jetstar says the VTL status of flight 3K132 from Perth to Singapore is pending approval, with all four weekly flights in the PER-SIN direction expected to join the scheme, though you may wish to hold off booking until that is confirmed.
Jetstar’s parent company Qantas is restarting daily Airbus A330 Perth – Singapore services on 27th March 2022, though we noticed the carrier has loaded four times weekly flights from 14th February 2022 into GDS, six weeks earlier, not yet available for sale.
That suggests the airline may coincide its own Perth – Singapore relaunch in line with Jetstar’s, from mid-February.
Scoot is currently serving Perth from Singapore on a daily basis using two-class Boeing 787-9 aircraft, but the airline has not yet confirmed which of these will join the VTL programme.
In late November, Scoot told the Straits Times it “looks forward to supporting the demand for VTL travel from Perth next year”, so we can safely expect some additional low-cost options from SIA’s budget division too.
Jetstar, Scoot and Qantas flights from Singapore to Perth require no VTL status, so you can go ahead and book in that direction now if you wish, even for dates in February.
Summary
It’s great to see Australian states sticking to their plan to reopen international borders as vaccination rates are met, giving us brand new two-way quarantine-free options including on the popular Perth route.
Before the pandemic, Singapore travellers made up the largest group of visitors to Perth, so this news will be welcomed by thousands waiting to reconnect with family there, or simply enjoy a holiday.
Award space is already loaded on many of these VTL flights, so now may be a good time to lock in a booking to and from this popular city, given the fairly competitive saver Business Class award rate.
We expect further details soon on VTL flights by Scoot, Jetstar and Qantas on the Perth route, which will only add to the options from SIA, and we’ll announce those as they come through.
(Cover Photo: Shutterstock)
But the SQ website is not reflecting the VTL flights. Can you direct me to the site that is showing the VTL flights? Would like to book a few seats. Thanks!
Reflects for me! Search from 5 Feb onwards.
Sorry Andrew but SQ site seems to think otherwise as no flights either ways loaded for the month of Feb 2022 🙁
Weird! Still working for me.
And Singapore to Perth ????????
As mentioned in the article, still subject to limit cap until 1 Mar so it’ll be a few days before they get the official confirmation and remove the cap from 5 Feb 👍🏼
Great thanks. Waiting eagerly 🙂
Hoping SQ puts updates the flights from SG to PER soon….checking the site every few hours! Keen to get back home!
SIN-PER flights are now loaded from 5 Feb 👍🏼
Wait does that include other Singapore residents (PR, EP etc?) I thought VTL to Australia was only for Singaporean passport holders but your article mentions all international visitors?
Yes those restrictions are only for current travel to NSW and VIC. Likely to change soon too.
For WA, all international visitors will be able to visit from 5 Feb. Fully vaxxed = no quarantine, otherwise 14 days quarantine.
No, Qantas won’t fly in Feb or early part of Mar. It just cancelled my flight during Mar school holidays, I booked in Sep this year, it was bookable then as classic rewards, but soon after not bookable, and then got cancelled.