Singapore travel bubble on again after ticket ban lifted

Airplanes are parked at Incheon International Airport [NEWS1]

The Singapore travel bubble is on again.

Dec. 23 to Jan. 20, the sale of new flight tickets between Korea and Singapore had been prohibited to prevent the spread of the Omicron variant.

The travel bubble was still technically available, and people who had purchased flight tickets before the new restrictions were able to board flights and enter the countries under travel bubble terms, with no quarantine required.

But new ticket sales were not allowed during that period.

For all practical purposes, the only travel bubble destination available over the past month was Saipan.

Asiana Airlines operates an Incheon-Singapore service five days a week, on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Korean Air Lines flies between the cities three times a week, on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday.

Tourist agencies including Mode Tour and Interpark Tour have resumed the sale of tour packages to Singapore.

Travelers will have to submit the same documents as before to enter Singapore without quarantine — an English-language document showing negative results from a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test or an antigen test taken less than 48 hours before the flight and an English-language document proving full vaccination. When returning to Korea, they need to show another negative PCR test result taken less than 48 hours before the flight back.

Although travel bubble travelers will be exempt from the 10-day quarantine, restrictions do exist.

Singapore's health ministry requested carriers limit the number of passengers to half plane capacity. Travelers are required to test themselves daily using antigen test-kits and submit results online to the health ministry.

BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]