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SINGAPORE – Changi Airport will be further open to transit passengers, and Jetstar Asia announced on Friday (November 20) that those on its flights from six Southeast Asian cities will be able to transit through Singapore to other destinations beginning in December 1st.
It is the fourth airline authorized to operate such transit flights after the three Singapore Airlines Group (SIA) airlines – SIA, Scoot and SilkAir – began to do so in August.
Such a move is expected to give a small boost to traffic at Changi Airport, although aviation experts have said demand for these flights will likely remain low, given continued restrictions on international travel and the lack of a bubble of significant travel in Southeast Asia.
Transit flights apply to Jetstar Asia passengers departing from Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Phnom Penh.
Those who transit must wear a bracelet throughout the trip so that airport and airline staff can identify them.
Jetstar Asia said that to the extent possible, they will keep separate from other passengers by sitting together near the front of the plane.
They will disembark from the planes first and board last, and will be kept in a transit or hotel waiting area during their stay in Singapore, which should not exceed 48 hours.
However, those arriving from Vietnam will be exempt from these regulations, as it is one of the countries to which Singapore has decided to unilaterally lift border restrictions.
Singapore did so in October after assessing that visitors to Vietnam were unlikely to have the coronavirus due to the country’s public health surveillance system and low infection rates.
Visitors to Vietnam can go about their business in Singapore after a negative Covid-19 smear test upon arrival here and do not need to provide a stay-at-home notice.
The transit flights are a “positive step in the recovery of the airline,” said Jetstar Asia CEO Bara Pasupathi.
The budget airline had cut a quarter of its Singapore-based workforce, including 220 pilots, in July, and recalled five of its jets.
It now has a total fleet of 13 aircraft flying to nine cities.
At its peak, transit and transit passengers accounted for about a third of Changi’s passenger traffic.
Current transfer and transit levels remain well below this peak.
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