As Melbourne celebrates a third straight day of double doughnuts – and the best six-pack this side of an ice-cold Melbourne Bitter – the whole state of Victoria is set to be reunited with travel once again. Before the state borders even reopen, the entire country of Singapore has decided to open the gates to Victorians from this Friday, November 6.
The water-wrapped city-state in Southeast Asia opened up to Australia (except for Victoria) back at the start of October, allowing Aussies to re-enter alongside Brunei, New Zealand, and Vietnam. Now that Victoria has done so well with squashing its daily case numbers – may I reiterate, double doughnuts again – Singapore has extended the invitation to come to visit.
Singapore’s great news was officially announced by Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung, who confirmed that people from mainland China will also be able to start visiting from the end of this week as well.
Somewhat surprisingly, One Ye Kung also revealed that Singapore has only seen just over 600 people visit since slowly lifting its international travel restrictions last month.
Travelling again after this big year of very weird energy still feels a bit off, so I can’t blame people for not wanting to spend all their lockdown savings on yeeting overseas on a flight at the first chance.
Despite that, truly the best thing about the Singapore borders reopening is the knowledge that we can totally fly into (and get incredibly lost in) Changi Airport again. That place is pure magic, and I’d even be willing to pull a Kath & Kel honeymoon and just holiday there.
Seriously, that place has a koi pond, a butterfly garden, a fuck-off huge fountain/water feature, and is generally just way more zen than any airport has any right to be.
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From November 6, Victorians will have to apply for an Air Travel Pass at least seven days before travelling into the country, this is on top of the standard visa process, travel exemptions, and a SG Arrival Card to declare health status.
As well as the pass, travellers will need to have been in Australia for 14 days before entering Singapore and complete a COVID-19 test upon arrival, before staying in a hotel for 1-2 days while the test processes. Singapore Government strongly recommends registering and pre-paying for a test in the days before your flight.
If results are negative, travellers will be free to go about their sojourn in Singapore without having to complete more isolation, so long as they’ve downloaded the country’s TraceTogether app.
