Removal of restrictions pushes up demand for Singapore travels

Demand for travel to Singapore from Kolkata has shot up following the switchover from bubble flights to scheduled commercial services. The shift has led to removal of multiple restrictions like procuring a vaccinated travel pass (VTP) in addition to the visa and quarantine on arrival for passengers who do not arrive by non-vaccinated travel lane (VTL) flights. “From just 30%-35% occupancy in early March, the daily Singapore Airlines flight is now clocking 70%-80% load. Encouraged by the demand, IndiGo Airlines has applied for a daily flight to Singapore from mid-April,” an airline official said. Singapore Airlines operates an Airbus A 350-900 aircraft that has 150 economy seats and 10 business-class seats. Singapore Airlines was one of the first carriers to return to Kolkata when they resumed daily flights from November 29, 2019. While flights to Kolkata were recording good loads initially with people living there finally getting an opportunity to travel, the return flight fared poorly due to multiple conditions that were in force, including the requirement for travel pass and quarantine on arrival. “Till March, Singapore Airlines did not operate a VTL flight from Kolkata. This led to passengers travelling to Delhi to take the Singapore Airlines VTL flight because that exempted them from having to quarantine on reaching Singapore. Thus, the flight from Kolkata hardly had any loads,” recounted travel agent Manav Soni. That changed with the return of scheduled flight status from April 1 after more than two years. Passengers can now travel freely without having to bother about getting a travel pass. “An RT-PCR test done 48 hours prior to travel and vaccination certificate is all that is required to fly to Singapore now. With Singapore now issuing e-visa that offers multiple entry for two years, it is becoming a sought-after destination like Thailand for leisure travellers as well,” Soni added