Last month the United Kingdom (UK) joined a growing number of countries on Singapore’s Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) list adding a pre-departure COVID-19 test requirement for overseas arrivals, in response to a global spread of the Omicron variant.
Good news for those heading to the UK this year is that the pre-departure test requirement is being scrapped for those entering England from 4am on Friday 7th January 2022, saving travellers the inconvenience and cost of arranging this test before their flight.
The UK Government has decided that the rapid spread of Omicron within the country has effectively rendered the measure redundant.
The UK’s post arrival Day 2 test is still in force, however the requirement to self-isolate until receiving a negative result (which meant a ‘quarantine’ of 24 hours in some cases) has also thankfully been scrapped for arrivals from 4am on Friday 7th January 2022.
Travellers will instead be free to roam immediately upon arrival from that date.
If you’re taking a non-stop flight from Singapore to the UK, the first services which will not require a pre-departure test nor self-isolation after arrival are:
- BA12 SIN-LHR at 11pm on 6th January
- SQ322 SIN-LHR at 11.45pm on 6th January
- SQ52 SIN-MAN at 1.30am on 7th January
Full details of the new arrival requirements are available here.
Day 2 test
Abolishing the pre-departure test for those travelling to the UK is certainly good news, but it’s the changes to the (slightly complicated) Day 2 test that are of most value here.
Currently this takes the form of a post-arrival PCR test you must pre-book and tak