SQ325, operated by Singapore Airlines (SIA), touched down at 5.36pm on Wednesday (Sept 8). It departed Frankfurt at about 10pm local time on Tuesday, or 4 am on Wednesday, Singapore time.

SQ325’s landing marks the start of Singapore’s Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) scheme, which is open to Brunei and Germany.

Vaccinated travellers under the scheme will take up to four Covid-19 polymerase chain reaction tests in lieu of quarantine, and have to follow other conditions like taking designated VTL flights to Singapore.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said it has issued passes to travel under the VTL scheme to 1,412 travellers from Germany as at 11.59pm on Tuesday – 621 passes were issued to short-term visitors and the remaining 791 passes were issued to long-term pass holders.

Fully vaccinated Singaporeans and permanent residents do not need to apply for a pass to enter Singapore under the VTL.

One hundred travellers – comprising 57 short-term visitors, 15 long-term pass holders and 28 Singapore citizens and permanent residents – arrived on the first VTL flight on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, for Brunei, CAAS has issued 47 passes to short-term visitors and seven to long-term pass holders. Seven short-term visitors and five Singapore citizens/PRs are expected to arrive on the first VTL flight from Brunei on Thursday.

While Brunei remains closed to leisure travel, Germany has been open to travellers from the Republic since October last year. This means Singapore residents can use the VTL scheme to travel without quarantine in either country.

The VTL’s successful start has brought relief to travel agents and would-be travellers, who had feared the scheme might be derailed, as with the Singapore-Hong Kong air travel bubble.

According to Straits Times