India-Singapore flights commence under VTL amidst Omicron fear, check timings here

Vistara and IndiGo said they have started operating flights to Singapore under Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) that allows quarantine-free travel for fully vaccinated travellers.

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Flight services between India and Singapore under the Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) commenced on Monday even as Singapore deferred similar travel arrangements with some countries amid the Omicron scare. Vistara and IndiGo said they have started operating flights to Singapore, while there was no comment from Air India. VTL allows quarantine-free travel to Singapore for fully vaccinated travellers.

"There is no change as of now in terms of our Singapore operations - our first flight went at 1:50 am today," a Vistara spokesperson said. While there is no change as of now, the spokesperson said the situation is being reviewed and a decision will be taken accordingly. "We can confirm that we are operating our flight on Chennai-Singapore as per schedule," an IndiGo spokesperson said.

Last week, Singapore Airlines also announced that flights to and from India will resume from November 29. There was no immediate comment from the airline on Monday regarding the services.

Various countries have imposed travel curbs in the wake of the emergence of the new COVID variant 'Omicron'. India too will review its decision to resume scheduled international passenger flights from December 15 on the basis of the evolving scenario. Earlier this month, Singapore and India agreed on resuming scheduled commercial flights between the two countries under the VTL from November 29, with six designated flights daily from Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai.

Vistara, last week, said it would operate Airbus A320neo/A321neo planes five times a week between India and Singapore starting from November 29. Meanwhile, Singapore has deferred VTL arrangements with Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as a "precautionary move" to reduce the risk of importation and spread of Omicron.

VTLs for these three countries, originally scheduled to launch from December 6, will now be deferred "until further notice", Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Sunday.