It looks like passenger traffic could finally start to pick up again at Singapore Changi, as the airport has seen a 99.5% drop in passenger numbers, and has closed both Terminal 2 and Terminal 4.
Continue reading: Singapore Changi Will Open To Transit Passengers As Of June 2
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
In before George trolls that this is good news, since he has 27 transits through Changi booked for this summer.
So transit passengers are confined only within certain areas? What about airline lounges? Not allowed to visit them?
Looks like it's gonna be a hard pass for me.
@Stanley airline lounges are airside, so assuming they are open, they should be accessible.
The Jewel is landside.
Reaper-
I actually dislike Singapore, and don't fly Star carriers (well, I did book some Turkish flights yesterday).
I'm doing an 11 month trip to hit another 40+ countries, and going to avoid Singapore if I can.
Too hot, too.. sterile. Not a fan.
More than that:
I think the more people like you DON'T TRAVEL - the better for everyone else.
These are some of the best traveling times of my entire life. Everything is easy.
I applaud that you are staying home.
Please keep doing it!!
What's pretty interesting is that those with Employment Passes/Work Visas that were outside of Singapore when restrictions started going in to effect in March -before the Circuit Breaker- still don't seem to have much of a chance to be able to get back in to Singapore *UNLESS* you're in an essential sector...someone correct me if I am wrong here, but that has to be agonizing for a lot of people.
@George, I travel plenty, and will continue doing so.
However, I don't troll Lucky's blog with nonsense.
I suppose it's now obvious Changi made a strategic error in design years ago in that there is no separate transit area within the airport to keep those transit persons isolated
, like nearly every other worldwide airport . Obviously this was done to allow the transitees to do some shopping in between flights...and now the price is being paid !
Singapore has taken such a draconian approach to this. You'd think it was New York. It isn't. They've locked down their entire economy despite having consistently sub 30 people in the ICU and around 20 deaths. This despite the spike of cases they saw being in a well defined (and isolatable) set of locations (foreign worker dorms).
The reality is that voluntary social distancing is (and was) working fine here outside of the dorms where people live up to 12 to a room. Note - despite thousands of cases in these dorms no one has died from the disease. An important data point for every other country. Never the less they've spent billions instead and created a bunch of political issues for themselves. The SG government shows no signs of waking up to reality anytime soon - the daily press conferences and media are still full of fear/uncertainty with good news buried away from the headlines. They're insisting on a painful, gradual release from measures and indefinitely suspending some businesses beyond that. This while spending billions and billions (which luckily they have in reserve versus the US!) to try and prop things up. If only this money was channeled into other areas of research etc to genuinely push human progress on cancer and other conditions which continue killing.
I wouldn't expect any access to Singapore anytime soon except from zero-case countries. This sounds a little dramatic, but given how they're handling things so far I'd honestly be fearful of being dragged into involuntary quarantine for happening to be in the same half of the terminal as someone who is diagnosed during transit. Watch and wait would be my advice.
As long as we don't have to fight over wheel chair .Every time w we come to Singapore we have to fight over wheel chair and if they don't have enough .They charge $250.00 I think is a Joke
Based on several media reports it looks likely borders will open in phases. The Baltic countries already opened their borders to each other, and many other countries have done so or are discussing it. Some of these are a bit odd on paper, however it is based on similar levels of corona cases. The Nordic countries (less Sweden) are in discussions with Germany, Austria, Greece, Israel and Singapore for instance.
Countries with high transmission rates like the USA, U.K. and Sweden are likely to meet closed borders many places until they get better control internally.
Personally I’m in no hurry to resume travel. The added hassle, closure of attractions & restaurants plus the risk of suddenly getting stranded should more waves appear has put me off until things become clearer (and better).
@Wigmore I dunno where you travel to/from but most airports I've been to don't have the kind of limitations you imply for transiting passengers. You can always shop during transit in my experience and you always end up mingling with the other passengers at some point before transit.
CR - you are correct. Mrs Ourmanin and I live in Singapore, I had to return to the UK in early March for business and family matters, still not able to get permission to re-enter. And woe betide anyone that just turns up! Stories of people having there Employment Passes cancelled unilaterally. We are used to spending significant time apart due to work commitments but we know of people for who it has placed an enormous strain on their personal situations. Whilst acknowledging the rationale behind it, it has to be remembered that one of the reasons that so many are drawn to Singapore has historically been the ease of travel in and out. The fact that the drawbridge was pulled up so dramatically and rapidly, will, I suspect, have many considering their future plans.
I was so lucky to tour the planet for 22 years and even though I did not make Big Money which I missed out on I got to see things that money could never buy. It was fun flying Singapore Air first
Class from Lax to Changi with stop in Narita for 60000m miles. When coast is clear and Virus is ancient history middle seats in economy will be with big smiles.
Singapore has been doing great in handling the covid pandemic. At least Singapore didn’t screw up like US or Europe did. Look at countries like the US, Italy, UK, Germany etc. These countries have performed horribly in this pandemic
I just tried to book a flight, the title is misleading. It is only opening up to transit for repatriation flights organised by your government.
“ Currently, foreign passengers may only transit through Singapore if they are on repatriation flights arranged by their governments. The decision will allow passengers to transit through Singapore more easily.”