TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Singapore to allow visitors from Brunei, New Zealand
Singapore will allow travelers from Brunei and New Zealand to visit starting in September, in a "small, cautious step" by the virus-hit aviation hub to restart air travel.
Change Size
Passengers arrive at the departure hall of Changi International Airport in Singapore on June 8, 2020. (AFP/Roslan Rahman)
S
ingapore will allow travelers from Brunei and New Zealand to visit starting in September, in a "small, cautious step" by the virus-hit aviation hub to restart air travel, officials said Friday.
The city-state closed its borders in March to tourists and short-term visitors and later implemented a partial lockdown as coronavirus outbreaks swept through dormitories housing hundreds of thousands of migrant workers.
Arrivals from Brunei and New Zealand will be subject to a virus test in lieu of a 14-day quarantine.
Transport minister Ong Ye Kung said the move aims to strike a balance between controlling the spread of the virus and reviving air travel, a key driver of the trade-and tourism-reliant economy.
"All in all, I think this is a small cautious step to start to reopen aviation and resuscitate Changi Airport," he told reporters on Friday.
Read also: Singapore Airlines Group passengers can now transit via Singapore from Indonesia
"Remember, as a small open economy, to survive we've got to keep our borders open. To earn a living, (we) gotta have connections with the world and to thrive and to prosper, we must be an aviation hub."
Brunei and New Zealand were chosen as they are small countries and have controlled the virus very well, Ong said, adding the move was unilateral.
The quarantine period has also been cut from 14 to seven days for travelers from low-risk regions including Australia -- excluding Victoria state -- China, Taiwan, Vietnam and Malaysia.
Ong said last week Changi Airport used to move 1,000 aircraft a day but this number had fallen to 150.
