• Fully vaccinated travellers from Germany will soon be able to enter Singapore without serving stay-home notices
• There will be seven designated flights from Germany to Singapore each week for a start operated by Singapore Airlines and Lufthansa
• The first one from Germany will take off on Sept 7

SINGAPORE — There will soon be seven designated flights from Germany to Singapore each week taking only fully vaccinated passengers, as the Government here gradually opens up borders for different groups of travellers based on vaccination status. 

Five will be serviced by Singapore Airlines (SIA) and the other two will be operated by German airline Lufthansa.

Mrs Elise Becker, vice-president of Lufthansa’s Asia-Pacific arm, told TODAY that as it currently has only one weekly flight between Singapore and Germany, it will be adding two more to make it three weekly flights in response to the relaxed border measures.

Two of these will be for the designated vaccine travel lane flights. 

Under a new Vaccinated Travel Lane arrangement that was announced by Singapore on Thursday (Aug 19), fully vaccinated travellers from Germany will be able to come here without having to serve a stay-home notice as well.

This is provided that they meet a set of criteria including taking designated flights that serve only vaccinated travellers without transiting elsewhere. They will also have to undergo some tests after they are here.

Germany already allows travellers from Singapore to enter the country without quarantine.

The seven weekly flights are:

• SIA flight SQ325 departing from Frankfurt on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays

• SIA flight SQ331 departing from Munich on Mondays and Wednesdays

• Lufthansa flight LH778 departing from Frankfurt on Thursdays and Saturdays

Other direct flights from Germany will continue, but travellers on these flights will not be considered as those on the Vaccinated Travel Lane and will be subject to the prevailing quarantine measures on arrival, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said during a press briefing on Thursday.

CAAS said that travellers should refer to the airlines’ websites for the latest flight schedules.

The first SIA flight under the Vaccinated Travel Lane arrangement will take off from Frankfurt on Sept 7.

A check by TODAY at 10.30pm on Thursday found that a standard economy-class return ticket for the flight costs 1,077.73 euros (about S$1,717).

The SQ331 flight departing from Munich is going at 1,087.32 euros for a standard economy-class return ticket.

SIA said in a media release that customers with existing bookings will be notified if their flights have been placed under the Vaccinated Travel Lane or have been cancelled due to changes in the flight schedule.

Customers who do not meet the requirements for the travel lane may choose to be placed on another flight.

Should the new travel arrangements get suspended, SIA will adhere to the guidance of the regulators and customers will be informed of any changes.

And if the flights have to be cancelled or changed to one that admits passengers regardless of vaccination status, all affected customers will be eligible for a refund of their tickets.

Separately, fully vaccinated travellers from Brunei will be able to enter Singapore without having to serve a stay-home notice under the new Vaccinated Travel Lane as well.

There will be three flights designated for fully vaccinated travellers from Brunei to Singapore each week, one of which is operated by SIA. The other two will be serviced by Royal Brunei Airlines.

TODAY has reached out to Royal Brunei Airlines for comment.

WHAT AIRLINES SAY

SIA told TODAY that it “strongly supports all efforts to open the Singapore air hub in a safe and calibrated manner”.

“This is an important milestone in our recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and helps to establish confidence in the safe resumption of international air travel with the necessary protocols in place,” it said.

Budget air carrier Scoot said that it, too, welcomes the easing of travel restrictions. 

“Scoot will continue to monitor the situation and be guided by regulatory requirements as we adjust our capacity to meet the growing demand for air travel.”

Mrs Becker from Lufthansa said that the airline is “delighted” that Singapore no longer requires quarantine for fully vaccinated travellers from Germany.

“It is more important than ever that a leading country like Singapore joins forces with other countries to create reliable travel solutions and starts moving towards a post-pandemic world.

“Lufthansa Group, together with its joint-venture partner Singapore Airlines, is looking forward to playing an integral part in this development,” she said.

In Singapore, 77 per cent of the population have received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine. In Germany, it is close to 60 per cent, based on data from the Bloomberg Vaccine Tracker.