For those looking to make travel plans between Singapore and South Australia quarantine-free, there’s good news with the state government there confirming that mandatory arrival isolation, initially in force for 14 days and more recently for 7 days, has now been relaxed for fully vaccinated international travellers.
Singapore Citizens can also fly to Melbourne and Sydney without quarantine, thanks to the coordinated approach of those state governments to allow an end to isolation once you have had a self-swab antigen rapid test on arrival.
Darwin is also now a quarantine-free option, with regular non-stop Jetstar flights to and from Changi, while Perth (Western Australia) is opening its border quarantine-free to fully vaccinated international travellers from 5th February 2022.
South Australia joins the club
From 12.01am on 1st January 2022, fully vaccinated international travellers entering South Australia are no longer required to complete any mandatory arrival quarantine period, nor do they need to complete an EntryCheck SA application.
“We will be removing the requirement for quarantine for fully vaccinated international arrivals as of midnight tonight.”
Steven Marshall, South Australia Premier, 31st December 2021
Arriving international travellers will still need to take a PCR test within 24 hours of arrival, and isolate until a negative result is received.
Testing on Day 6 and Day 13 after arrival has been removed from the requirements.
Currently to be able to travel to Australia from overseas you must be an Australian Citizen or Permanent Resident, or a Singaporean Citizen travelling from Singapore with a valid Australian visa / Electronic Travel Authority.
Japanese, South Korean and New Zealand Citizens are also eligible, when travelling directly from their home countries.
From 1st January 2022, international arrivals into South Australia must:
- Complete the Australia Travel Declaration at least 72 hours before departure.
- Have completed a course of a COVID-19 vaccine approved or recognised by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) for travel into Australia, for travellers over 12 years and 2 months of age.
- Take a COVID-19 PCR test within 72 hours of departure time, for travellers aged 4 or below.
- Take a COVID-19 PCR test within 24 hours of arrival in South Australia and isolate until they receive a negative result.
- Avoid high-risk settings (e.g. residential aged care facilities) for seven days after arrival.
Here’s our latest rundown of the cheapest locations to get a pre-departure PCR test suitable for travel in Singapore, starting at S$105.
It will remain a requirement for those who are not fully vaccinated to complete 14 days of quarantine, whether at home or in a “medi-hotel” on arrival in South Australia, and take tests on the 6th and 13th day after arrival.
Adelaide VTL flights loaded from 3rd January
Good news for the thousands of Singapore residents with close links to South Australia, and vice-versa, is that Singapore Airlines has acted swiftly to the news and brought forward its proposed four weekly VTL flights from Adelaide to Singapore.
These were originally set to start on 15th January 2022, as we first reported in November last year, but will now kick off from 3rd January 2022.
Adelaide – Singapore VTL Flights
3rd January 2022 – 26th March 2022
| Days | |||||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | |||
 |
SQ278 A350 Regional VTL |
||||||||
| ADL 10:35 |
SIN 15:10 |
||||||||
|
SQ276 A350 Regional VTL |
||||||||
| ADL 17:45 |
SIN 22:30 |
||||||||
* Next day
Services increase to five times weekly from late March 2022, as part of SIA’s recent VTL flight reveal for the summer 2022 season.
Adelaide – Singapore VTL Flights
27th March 2022 – 29th October 2022
| Days | |||||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | |||
|
SQ278 A350 Regional VTL |
||||||||
| ADL 09:10 |
SIN 15:10 |
||||||||
Only Fridays and Sundays will not have a VTL option on this route by late March 2022.
Qantas axed its Adelaide – Singapore service in April 2013, making Singapore Airlines the sole operator on the route. SIA is not operating any non-VTL ADL-SIN flights from 3rd January 2022 onwards.
The airline is exclusively using its Airbus A350 Regional on these services.
Flights therefore feature 40 of the 2018 Regional Business Class seats, many of which are open for redemption on the route at saver award rates, even on the inaugural VTL service.
You can read our full review of the 2018 Regional Business Class cabin here.
Offering these quarantine-free options so early is a little strange, since airlines are not supposed to be selling new tickets on VTL flights into Singapore until 20th January 2022, but SIA seems to be doing so on this route regardless.
Singapore – Adelaide flights
Singapore Airlines is now selling its Singapore – Adelaide flights from 3rd January 2022 as “For Eligible Passengers Only” (FEPO) flights, allowing Australian Citizens, Australian Permanent Residents and Singapore Citizens to travel.
Here’s how the FEPO flight schedule looks now that South Australia has lifted international arrival caps.
3rd January 2022 – 26th March 2022
| Days | |||||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | |||
|
SQ277 A350 Regional |
||||||||
| SIN 05:30 |
ADL 15:00 |
||||||||
|
SQ277 A350 Regional |
||||||||
| SIN 06:30 |
ADL 16:00 |
||||||||
|
SQ279 A350 Regional |
||||||||
| SIN 23:40 |
ADL 09:05* |
||||||||
* Next day
If you’re wondering why there are five passenger flights per week from Singapore to Adelaide until late March 2022, but only four in the return direction during that period, that’s because SQ277 on Wednesdays flies back to Changi as a cargo-only service (SQ274/276).
27th March 2022 – 29th October 2022
| Days | |||||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | |||
|
SQ279 A350 Regional |
||||||||
| SIN 23:10 |
ADL 07:25* |
||||||||
* Next day
Redemption rates
These are the one-way KrisFlyer miles redemption rates for flights between Singapore and Adelaide on SIA.
| KrisFlyer Redemption Rates Adelaide to/from Singapore |
||
| Saver (one way) |
Advantage (one way) |
|
| Economy | 28,000 |
55,000 |
| Business | 62,000 |
90,000 |
Summary
Australia’s international borders are gradually reopening, and it’s great to see more states welcoming Singapore travellers as they reach vaccination targets, giving us more two-way quarantine-free travel options now including Adelaide.
With Perth (Western Australia) similarly relaxing its requirements from early February, and Darwin (Northern Territory) having already done so, there are increasing opportunities for Singapore Citizens to plan Australia travel this year.
Let’s hope future news includes Queensland (Brisbane), and also unlocks two-way travel opportunities for all Singapore residents (PRs and Pass Holders) in the coming weeks.
(Cover Photo: Shutterstock)
only open to some singapore travelers … darn
Yes hopefully this will improve soon!
You might want to start adding information about proof of vaccination requirements once in country going to certain places. This varies state-by-state and they do not accept TraceTogether, they only accept their state based apps, etc.
This Singapore citizenship condition for travel to Australia is downright stupid. As if PR, EP, LTVP holders breathe a different type of “air” in Singapore. They already “control” the numbers via the number of ETAs approved.
Yes it’s quite bizarre to apply a nationality condition and I hope they ditch this soon. A Japanese citizen who is Singapore PR and resident in Singapore has to fly back to Japan in order to then fly to Australia! Illogical.
I don’t think New Zealanders have to be travelling from New Zealand in order to enter Australia, as per the exempt category of “a fully vaccinated New Zealand passport holder seeking to enter Australia on a Special Category (TY444) visa.”
The SCV (TY444) is what (almost) all New Zealand Citizens are automatically granted upon entry to Australia. It is what allows us to work and live there indefinitely. We’ll see if I’m denied boarding XD