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Just two days before Christmas, the Singapore government banned short-term visitors and transit passengers who had recently been to the UK. The decision, which took effect at 11:59 am Singapore Standard Time on Wednesday, December 23, left thousands of travelers stranded abroad, with limited options for getting home. Now, Singapore Airlines is reporting that it has received government approval to carry passengers from London Heathrow to Sydney and Auckland via its Singapore Changi hub.
Government approval received
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Singapore has lifted the ban on travelers transiting through Changi Airport from the UK. This comes just over a week after the government decided to block anyone from the UK due to a new strain of coronavirus detected in the country.
Today, however, a Singapore Airlines spokesperson confirmed that government approval to carry passengers has been obtained. The airline can now carry passengers from London Heathrow Airport to Sydney and Auckland via Singapore Changi Airport, with special restrictions in place.
Passengers staying on board
However, approval to operate services such as London-Singapore-Sydney will have special limitations. In fact, passengers connecting to Australia will have to stay on the plane while on the ground in Singapore. According to the Kiwi Stuff publication, this rule also applies to transits to Auckland.
While prospective flight data is limited at this time, we can see that this applies to a recent flight with Singapore Airlines’ registered Airbus A350-900 9V-SMU on December 31 with FlightRadar24.com.
- The plane departed London at 10:20 AM for Singapore as SQ317 and landed in Singapore at 6:26 AM local time (January 1).
- After this 12-hour flight, passengers would have remained on board the plane as it became SQ281 with service to Auckland.
- The flight then departed approximately two and a half hours later, at 08:54, and landed in Auckland at 23:04 local time, for a round-trip flight of approximately 10 hours.
“The health and safety of our staff and customers remain our top priority, and [Singapore Airlines] will continue to employ strict health and safety measures on the ground and in the air to ensure the well-being of our passengers and crew ”. – Singapore Airlines spokesperson via Sydney Morning Herald
This policy of staying on the aircraft would mean that passengers remain on board for approximately 24 hours, which is quite a complicated journey to be confined to an economy class seat, with a mask on at all times, no doubt. Unfortunately, given the unpredictable and unprecedented times we find ourselves in, passengers will likely have no choice but to endure this extremely long journey to get home.
What do you think of this resumption of the flight on the condition that the passengers in transit remain on the plane? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
