Singapore to suspend ticket sales for quarantine-free travel

Singapore freezes new ticket sales for VTL flights and buses from Dec 23 to Jan 20 amid Omicron concerns


Travellers wait in line at the vaccinated travel lane bus counters at Larkin Station in Johor Bahru on Dec 6, 2021. (Photo: Low Zoey)

Ian Cheng - 22 Dec 2021 
www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/covid-19-moh-freeze-vtl-ticket-sales-limit-exposure-omicron-2395081

SINGAPORE: Singapore will freeze all new ticket sales for vaccinated travel lane (VTL) flights and buses between Dec 23 and Jan 20 next year amid a "rapid spread" of Omicron cases in many countries, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Wednesday (Dec 22).

The move will help limit Singapore's exposure to imported Omicron COVID-19 cases, said the ministry.

The freeze does not apply to passengers who already hold a VTL flight or bus ticket and meet all other VTL requirements, meaning they can continue to travel under the quarantine-free travel scheme.

MOH will also temporarily reduce the VTL quotas and ticket sales for travel after Jan 20, 2022. It will continue to monitor developments closely and update this policy as the situation changes.

"We are picking up more Omicron cases because of the rapid spread of the variant across many countries/regions," said MOH.

"With aggressive contact tracing and ringfencing measures, we have, for now, been able to limit onward community transmission. But it is a matter of time before the Omicron variant spreads in our community," it added.