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MANILA, Philippines—Local carriers are starting trips to Singapore for fully vaccinated tourists via quarantine-free vaccinated travel lane (VTL) flights.
Cebu Pacific launched VTL flights on March 3 while Philippine Airlines rolled out trips on March 4.
AirAsia Philippines will start on March 5 and is “expected to increase the frequency in the near future, subject to approval from regulating bodies.”
“We have been preparing for this new reality in travel since the end of 2021, as reflected by our current growth in flight routes, capacity, and bookings; and programs such as VTL,” AirAsia Philippines spokesperson Steve Dailisan said in a statement.
“Singapore has always been among the top goal destinations of Filipinos, and we are glad to make the travel to the Lion City easier and more convenient for our kababayans,” he added.
Travelers on VTL flights should be fully vaccinated and must comply with Singapore’s requirements.
They must show proof of vaccination, a negative RT-PCR test result and travel insurance. Moreover, arriving passengers have up to 24 hours to take a supervised self-swab antigen rapid test at one of the testing centers located across Singapore.
The Philippines is also expecting more international tourists as Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport—the country’s busiest gateway—is preparing to increase the reported daily cap of 5,000 oversea arrivals to 10,000 per day.
This was due to the recent easing of pandemic restrictions to the most relaxed alert 1 status.
“Two days ago, we hit 7,500 for inbound passengers at the Naia. And we are expecting in the next couple of days it will be 10,000 passengers. Are we ready for the gradual increase from 5,000 to 10,000? The answer is yes,” Transportation secretary Arthur Tugade said in a statement.
Airlines were also allowed to operate at 100 percent passenger capacity starting March 1.
Tugade said the Naia Terminal 4, which was closed after the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, will resume operations on March 28 this year.