VTL expansion: Vietnam, Greece and all EEA countries join Singapore’s quarantine-free list

Singapore has announced another expansion of its Vaccinated Travel Lanes (VTLs), adding Vietnam and Greece to the list of quarantine-free options from 16th March 2022, both of which will include designated non-stop VTL flights to Singapore.

Those with a seven-day travel history in all 30 European Economic Area (EEA) countries, plus three non-EEA countries, 24 of which are not current or future VTL locations, will also be eligible to use the scheme, representing a major expansion for more flexible Europe trips including places like Portugal, Ireland and Austria.

The existing bilateral VTL arrangement with Malaysia will also be expanded to include designated non-stop flights to and from Penang, with four daily return flights, while the Indonesia arrangement will be extended to include Bali, with twice daily service.

The VTL with India will also extend to include cities other than the current network of Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai, providing additional options.

Latest VTL list

These latest additions will mean Singapore has opened VTLs with 32 countries, and additionally will allow travel history within a further 21 EEA member states, plus Andorra, San Marino and Vatican City, providing the widest range of quarantine-free travel options yet for Singapore residents, including both regional and long-haul options.

Singapore Vaccinated Travel Lanes

2-way quarantine-free

🇦🇺 Australia
🇰🇭 Cambodia
🇨🇦 Canada
🇩🇰 Denmark
🇫🇯 Fiji
🇫🇮 Finland
🇫🇷 France
🇩🇪 Germany
🇬🇷 Greece
🇮🇳 India
🇮🇱 Israel
🇮🇹 Italy
🇲🇾 Malaysia
🇲🇻 Maldives
🇳🇱 Netherlands

🇵🇭 Philippines
🇶🇦 Qatar
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia
🇰🇷 South Korea
🇪🇸 Spain
🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
🇸🇪 Sweden
🇨🇭 Switzerland
🇹🇭 Thailand
🇹🇷 Turkey
🇦🇪 UAE
🇬🇧 UK
🇺🇸 USA
🇻🇳 Vietnam

1-way quarantine-free
(to Singapore)

🇧🇳 Brunei
🇭🇰 Hong Kong

🇮🇩 Indonesia

Approved travel history countries

🇦🇩 Andorra
🇦🇹 Austria
🇧🇪 Belgium
🇧🇬 Bulgaria
🇭🇷 Croatia
🇨🇾 Cyprus
🇨🇿 Czech Republic
🇪🇪 Estonia
🇭🇺 Hungary
🇮🇸 Iceland
🇮🇪 Ireland
🇱🇮 Liechtenstein

🇱🇹 Lithuania
🇱🇻 Latvia
🇱🇺 Luxembourg
🇲🇹 Malta
🇳🇴 Norway
🇵🇱 Poland
🇵🇹 Portugal
🇷🇴 Romania
🇸🇲 San Marino
🇸🇰 Slovakia
🇸🇮 Slovenia
🇻🇦 Vatican City

Updated: 22 March 2022

In total, travel history wholly within Singapore and/or 56 additional VTL and approved countries within the last seven consecutive days will qualify you to take a designated VTL flight to Singapore and arrive quarantine-free under the scheme, as a fully vaccinated traveller.

Greece VTL

Greece will be added as a VTL country from 16th March 2022, which comes in perfect time for the European summer holiday season for those of you eyeing a trip to islands like Mykonos or Santorini.

Travel from Singapore to Greece is already quarantine-free, making this a two-way arrangement. No pre-departure testing applies for fully vaccinated travellers arriving from Singapore, however arrivals from some other countries do require one.

Here’s the full outbound process from Singapore at the time of writing:

• You must complete a Passenger Locator Form (PLF) before travelling. A confirmation email or a QR code generated from the completed form must be presented upon arrival. Families can be accepted with one joint confirmation e-mail, or a unique QR code.
• You can travel to Greece by providing one of the following:
  • Certificate showing you are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, with your primary vaccination series completed at least 14 days and at most 270 days before arrival; or
  • If your primary vaccination series has expired, by also showing a booster dose; or
  • If you have recently recovered, a positive COVID-19 antigen (ART), or PCR test result issued at least 14 days and at most 180 days before arrival; or
  • A negative pre-departure test (ART within 24 hours of arrival or PCR within 72 hours of arrival).
• Vaccination, recovery or negative test results outlined above are only applicable to travellers aged five or over.
• Random on-arrival COVID-19 testing is conducted. If positive, a five-day quarantine under supervision is required, either at home or designated accommodation.

Athens – Singapore VTL flights

Designated VTL flights from Athens to Singapore will be operated by Scoot four times per week on Boeing 787-8 aircraft including a ScootPlus and Economy Class cabin, with the first departure on 15th March 2022 (landing in Singapore on 16th March 2022).

“With the addition of Greece, we will have established two-way quarantine-free travel with all countries in Europe that have direct flights to Singapore.”

Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore

Here’s how the VTL flight schedule looks.

Athens – Singapore
(Scoot)

27th March 2022 - 31st March 2022

			Days
			M	T	W	T	F	S	S
	TR723 787-8
ATH 17:20		SIN 09:15*

* Next day

Important

From 1st April 2022, there will be no more designated VTL flights to Singapore.
All fully vaccinated travellers can enter quarantine-free on any flight operated by any airline on any route.

These four weekly services originate in Berlin, Germany, and therefore will provide an additional VTL option from that city starting on 15th March 2022, on top of the airline’s existing three times weekly non-stop Berlin – Singapore flights, as shown below (click to expand).

This gives the Berlin – Singapore route a daily VTL option, though the routing via Athens with a 1 hour 30 minute stopover is a ‘long slog’ in a low-cost seat!

It will be interesting to see whether demand is sufficient for Scoot to ‘de-pair’ this routing in future, and operate more non-stop services to Singapore from both cities.

Greece VTL testing costs

With no pre-departure testing before departing from Singapore to Greece for most of our readers, here’s the approximate total testing costs for a round-trip on this new VTL.

🇬🇷 VTL Singapore Greece COVID-19 Testing  Test Cost Greece pre-departure (ART) ~S$15 SG on-arrival (supervised ART) S$15 Total ~S$30

This represents one of the cheapest VTL trips, in testing terms at least, with additional costs per traveller standing at around S$30, based on ART testing at EUR10 (S$15) including a travel certificate in downtown Athens.

Remember if you have recently recovered from COVID-19 in the last 90 days with documentary proof, you are now exempt from all pre-departure testing, on-arrival testing and isolation requirements when travelling to Singapore.

Vietnam VTL

Vietnam has been in the process of reopening its border to international tourists quarantine-free, with the latest plan for this to commence on 15th March 2022.

That should be in time for the launch of the VTL with Singapore, effective from 16th March 2022.

“From 15 March 2022, Vietnam plans to reopen its borders for international tourism. With the launch of the VTL from Vietnam, we will restore two-way quarantine-free travel with Vietnam, which was a popular destination for many Singaporeans pre-COVID.”

Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore

Visitors will be required to show proof of full vaccination, a negative PCR test within 72 hours of departure (find the cheapest in Singapore here), and have adequate travel insurance, but the full details are still awaited.

Nevertheless this looks set to be a relatively simple regional option, much like the newly launched Philippines VTL.

Once the process for travelling quarantine-free to Vietnam as a fully vaccinated tourist is finalised, we will provide a detailed update for this new two-way VTL.

Vietnam – Singapore VTL flights

So far Singapore Airlines and Scoot have confirmed their designated VTL flight schedule from Da Nang (SIA only, from 27th March 2022), Hanoi (SIA and Scoot) and Ho Chi Minh (SIA and Scoot) from 16th March 2022, as shown below.

Da Nang – Singapore
(SIA)

From 27th March 2022, SIA will operate daily VTL flights from Da Nang to Singapore, using Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

27th March 2022 - 31st March 2022

			Days
			M	T	W	T	F	S	S
	SQ171 737-800
DAD 11:55		SIN 15:45
	SQ173 737-800
DAD 16:35		SIN 20:10

Important

From 1st April 2022, there will be no more designated VTL flights to Singapore.
All fully vaccinated travellers can enter quarantine-free on any flight operated by any airline on any route.

Departure timing is later on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, more ideal for maximising the last day of your trip.

Hanoi – Singapore
(SIA)

From 16th March 2022, SIA will operate twice daily VTL flights from Hanoi to Singapore, using Airbus A350 Regional and Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

• SQ191 HAN-SIN
  Airbus A350 Regional
  Depart: 12:35
  Arrive: 17:05
  Daily

• SQ193 HAN-SIN
  Boeing 737-800
  Depart: 16:35
  Arrive: 20:10
  Daily*

* No SQ193 service on 19th March or 26th March

Timings for SQ193 are slightly later than those shown above until 26th March 2022.

Hanoi – Singapore
(Scoot)

Here’s Scoot’s VTL flight schedule from Hanoi to Singapore from 19th March 2022.

Ho Chi Minh – Singapore
(SIA)

From 16th March 2022 until 26th March 2022, SIA will operate 11 times weekly VTL flights from Ho Chi Minh to Singapore, using Airbus A350 Regional or Airbus A350 Long Haul aircraft.

• SQ177 SGN-SIN
  Airbus A350 Regional
  Depart: 12:15
  Arrive: 15:20
  Daily (except Fri)

• SQ183 SGN-SIN
  Airbus A350 Long Haul
  Depart: 15:55
  Arrive: 19:10
  Daily (except Wed, Sun)

From 27th March 2022 to 29th October 2022, service is hiked to 21 times weekly (three per day).

• SQ177 SGN-SIN
  Airbus A350 Regional
  Depart: 12:30
  Arrive: 15:30
  Daily

• SQ183 SGN-SIN
  Airbus A350 Long Haul
  Depart: 15:55
  Arrive: 18:55
  Daily

• SQ185 SGN-SIN
  Airbus A350 Regional
  Depart: 19:40
  Arrive: 22:40
  Daily

Ho Chi Minh – Singapore
(Scoot)

Here’s Scoot’s VTL flight schedule from Ho Chi Minh to Singapore from 19th March 2022.

We also expect further announcements from Jetstar and local Vietnamese carriers operating quarantine-free flights on these routes, and we will update our continually updated full list of designated VTL flights accordingly once those are confirmed.

Europe trip flexibility (EEA countries)

Currently the travel history criteria to use the VTL is to have spent the last seven consecutive days in Singapore, any VTL countries, or any Category 1 countries.

It’s therefore already possible to make trips like Singapore – France – Netherlands – UK – Singapore, all of which keep you inside the ‘VTL Zone’, and still be eligible to return quarantine-free on a designated VTL flight back to Changi.

Stray into a non-VTL / non-Category 1 country, however, and the clock resets, requiring you to spend a further full seven days back inside the VTL Zone before being able to travel to Singapore under the scheme.

For VTL arrivals in Singapore from 16th March 2022, your travel history can now also include all 30 EEA countries (21 of which weren’t in the VTL before, or aren’t about to be), plus three non-EEA European countries comprising Andorra, San Marino and Vatican City.

That will give you an additional 24 countries on top of the previous list that you can visit in the seven days leading up to your VTL flight to Singapore, including useful options like Portugal, Belgium and Ireland.

“The EEA consists of the 27 European Union member states, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway. Travel history to Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City is also allowed. The broadening of travel history requirement will apply to travellers entering Singapore on or after 16 March 2022.”

Singapore ICA

Approved travel history countries
(from 16 March)

🇦🇩 Andorra
🇦🇹 Austria
🇧🇪 Belgium
🇧🇬 Bulgaria
🇭🇷 Croatia
🇨🇾 Cyprus
🇨🇿 Czech Republic
🇪🇪 Estonia
🇭🇺 Hungary
🇮🇸 Iceland
🇮🇪 Ireland
🇱🇮 Liechtenstein

🇱🇹 Lithuania
🇱🇻 Latvia
🇱🇺 Luxembourg
🇲🇹 Malta
🇳🇴 Norway
🇵🇱 Poland
🇵🇹 Portugal
🇷🇴 Romania
🇸🇲 San Marino
🇸🇰 Slovakia
🇸🇮 Slovenia
🇻🇦 Vatican City

For example, you’ll now be able to fly from Singapore to Portugal via Dubai on Emirates (the UAE is VTL, Portugal is an approved travel history country), then head to Spain and return to Singapore on a VTL flight from Barcelona.

For arrivals in Singapore before 16th March 2022, such a routing requires you to travel on a non-VTL flight to Singapore then serve seven days of SHN at home, followed by an exit PCR test, with short-term visitors not even eligible to do so.

This will also open up more useful VTL return itineraries with Middle East carriers like Qatar Airways, since they too now operate a range of designated VTL services.

For example spending a week in Ireland then taking a flight from Dublin connecting in Doha onto Qatar Airways flight QR946 to Singapore in the early hours of Monday, Thursday, Saturday or Sunday is now an eligible VTL routing, for those who meet the other criteria and will land in Singapore on or after 16th March 2022.

For easy reference, here’s a list of designated VTL flights operated by the ‘Middle East 3’ (click to expand):

Remember you can depart Singapore for trips including these new approved travel countries right now if you like. Provided you will return to Singapore via the VTL on or after 16th March 2022, your seven-day travel history can include them (no need to wait till mid-March to first enter these countries).

Malaysia, Indonesia and India expansion

As part of this announcement, Singapore is also expanding its bilateral VTL with Malaysia to include four times weekly quarantine-free flights in both directions to and from Penang.

The Indonesia VTL will also be expanded to include twice daily VTL flights from Bali to Singapore, while the India VTL will allow airlines to operate quarantine-free flights from any airport, some of which have already been loaded by SIA and Scoot.

We’ll provide a full roundup of these changes, which also take effect from 16th March 2022, in a separate article.

How the VTL works

In almost all cases, the VTL is a one-way arrangement from an overseas country to Singapore.

Here’s a reminder of the key process and requirements.

Singapore
Vaccinated Travel Lanes

Key Features

• Must have stayed in a VTL country/region and/or an approved travel history country (EEA + 3) and/or Singapore for the last 7 consecutive days
• Travel to Singapore on designated ‘VTL flights’ (final flight to Singapore)
• No restrictions on travel purpose or itineraries
• Must be fully vaccinated with a WHO-approved vaccine in Singapore, or any VTL country (e.g. Denmark), or any EU member state, or any non-EU countries that have joined the EU DCC system
• Must have an accepted digital proof of vaccination
• Unvaccinated children aged 12 or under can accompany their parents
• Visitors and Singapore work pass holders must apply for a VTP in advance*
• COVID-19 tests replace quarantine / Stay-Home Notice in Singapore

* Singapore Citizens, Permanent Residents and Long-Term Pass Holders are exempt

  VTL: All you need to know

There are some additional requirements for bilateral VTLs with South Korea and Malaysia.

Vaccinated Travel Pass (VTP)

Those entering Singapore on a VTL flight who are not Singapore Citizens, Permanent Residents or Long-Term Pass Holders will have to apply for a VTP 3-60 days prior to departure.

• VTP applications for those arriving from Greece and Vietnam will open on 13th March 2022 at 10am Singapore time.

Once issued, the VTP then allows entry on your intended date plus 13 further days (i.e. a two-week arrival window).

Singapore’s VTL scheme continues to grow this month, with Greece and Vietnam joining the programme, including several designated VTL flight options from both countries.

Greece is quarantine-free already, while Vietnam is expected to become so in mid-March.

There’s also great news for those planning Europe trips this summer, with seven-day travel history in 21 non-VTL EEA countries plus three further non-EEA countries no longer barring you from taking a VTL flight back to Changi, allowing for much more flexible vacations for more adventurous travellers, and opening up more VTL-eligible routings via the Middle East.

Finally three existing VTLs (Malaysia, Indonesia and India) are getting more quarantine-free flight options, which we’ll be sure to cover in more detail soon, especially with the upcoming two-way quarantine-free Bali option, which is sure to be popular in the coming months.

(Cover Photo: Shutterstock)