Australia's borders finally see the light

Australia is gearing up to welcome travellers from Singapore flying in via quarantine-free Vaccinated Travel Lanes (VTL), starting 21 November.

This comes after the government's announcement to allow fully-vaccinated Australian citizens and permanent residents aged 12 and over the freedom to travel out of the country on 1 November — the first such easing of border restrictions since April 2020.

Covaxin (India) and Sinopharm (China) have also been added to Australia's TGA-recognised vaccine list, making way for more foreign visitors to enter.

“Our industry has been waiting for this announcement for 20 long months and there will be a great deal of relief felt as export tourism businesses start to see the signs of returning international visitors,” said Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC) Managing Director, Peter Shelley.

“Despite much talk of ‘pivoting to domestic travel’ the reality is both our domestic and internationally focused tourism businesses have suffered heavily with both state and international border closures," he added.

“This quarantine-free travel lane with Singapore is the first step in getting our export tourism businesses back to doing what they do best, providing amazing experiences for international visitors."

Shelley also noted Singapore's contribution to Australia's economy in 2019 — close to half a million visitors, spending well over AUD$1 billion (US$750,000 million).

He added that "with proximity and motivation on our side, we hope this market will offer strong opportunities", and shared the industry's hopes at seeing an "expansion of this travel list in the near future".

Meanwhile, Scoot has launched promotional fares for upcoming VTL flights between Singapore and Australia. Scoot currently operates daily flights to Melbourne and four-times weekly flights to Sydney.

Interstate borders for both Victoria and NSW remain closed.