Singapore and Malaysia will from November 29 permit air travel for their fully-vaccinated citizens, between Singapore Changi Airport and the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.
Under the scheme, known as a Vaccinated Travel Lane, fully-jabbed travellers will be subjected to Covid-19 tests in lieu of serving either quarantine, or what is known in Singapore as a Stay-Home Notice. In the first stage of the scheme, there will be six designated flights for quarantine-free travel between the two places.
A joint statement issued on Monday on behalf of Singapore’s prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong, and Malaysia’s prime minister, Ismail Sabri Yaakob, said the two leaders “look forward to restoring travel across the land links between both countries in the near future”.
Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, Malaysia was one of the biggest source markets for inbound tourism to Singapore.
Investment analysts have also previously commented that Malaysian visitors had in pre-pandemic trading periods been an important part of the clientele at Singapore’s two casino resorts: Marina Bay Sands, run by a unit of United States-based Las Vegas Sands Corp; and Resorts World Sentosa, promoted by Genting Singapore Ltd.
Singapore’s visitor arrivals for 2020 declined by 85.7 percent year-on-year to 2.74 million, amid disruption linked to the global health emergency.
