Qantas VTL Flights - Singapore

[yh786]

Small update for flights to SIN from the Singapore SafeTravel website last night, effective 12 Nov:

Pre-departure tests done in Australia for travel to Singapore via the Vaccinated Travel Lane can now be the simpler and quicker Antigen Rapid Test (known in Australia as a Rapid Antigen Test), but still need to be performed by a pathology, ie. home Rapid Antigen Test kit results are not valid.

Eg at Melbourne and Sydney Airport, the onsite Histopath pathology does a PCR test at the airport with 1 hour turnaround for $150, but they also do a Rapid Antigen Test with 30 mins turnaround for just $50. See Travel Testing | Histopath for further details.

Here are the changes on the SafeTravel website (Frequently Asked Questions), as highlighted in red:

1. Are travellers under the VTL required to take any pre-departure COVID-19 PCR tests?​

All travellers, except those aged 2 and below in the calendar year (i.e. in the year 2021, those who are born in or after 2019), must undergo a COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test [or Antigen Rapid Test (ART) for entry into Singapore from 11 November 2021, 2359hrs] within 2 days before departure for Singapore.

Happy travels,
jc1jc1

This is brilliant news! Do you know of any non-Airport providers in Melbourne that provide a Rapid Antigen Test? TIA

 

[jc1jc1]

This is brilliant news! Do you know of any non-Airport providers in Melbourne that provide a Rapid Antigen Test? TIA

Aaah alas I was quite excited when I noticed this update but the reality on the ground is that (in Melbourne at least) the two major pathology chains, 4cyte and Healius do not have any mention at all on their website about them doing Rapid Antigen Tests for pre-departure. And upon pondering this some more, why would they rush into providing a cheaper service when they can make better money on the more expensive one. A classic case of profits over customers!

 

[Franky]

Aaah alas I was quite excited when I noticed this update but the reality on the ground is that (in Melbourne at least) the two major pathology chains, 4cyte and Healius do not have any mention at all on their website about them doing Rapid Antigen Tests for pre-departure. And upon pondering this some more, why would they rush into providing a cheaper service when they can make better money on the more expensive one. A classic case of profits over customers!

More like a captive audience - no other options....

 

[jrfsp]

Any word yet on whether Jetstar's flights to Singapore will be VTL flights?

Yes they will be. It will be interesting to see how demand holds up though.

QF are commencing at daily ex AU split between SYD and MEL. BA has just halved their VTL flights from LHR due to lack of demand going to 4 weekly.

 

[AIRwin]

JQ/3K has published details of their VTL flights to SIN from DRW, KUL and MEL:

https://www.jetstar.com/au/en/travel-alerts#Vaccinated%20Travel%20Lanes

 

[jaceiondalen]

think the Singapore - Germany VTL does not work if you have unvaccinated children with you and you are subject to quarantine.

With the impending travel bubble opening with Singapore, it's interesting that Qantas have yet to announce whether the flights they're operating from Sydney and Melbourne will be eligible Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) flights. Although it's likely that all QF flights to SIN will be VTL, if I were to want to fly to Singapore next week, I'd probably go with Singapore Airlines who announced their VTL flights at the same time the bubble was announced.

Anyone heard any news on this?

 

[Mattg]

think the Singapore - Germany VTL does not work if you have unvaccinated children with you and you are subject to quarantine.

I don't think this is still the case. Unvaccinated children under 12 can now travel with vaccinated parents.

 

[serfty]

Aaah alas I was quite excited when I noticed this update but the reality on the ground is that (in Melbourne at least) the two major pathology chains, 4cyte and Healius do not have any mention at all on their website about them doing Rapid Antigen Tests for pre-departure. And upon pondering this some more, why would they rush into providing a cheaper service when they can make better money on the more expensive one. A classic case of profits over customers!

Histopath can do it in 30 minutes at the airport for $59.

Airport | Histopath Diagnostic Specialists

Conveniently located at Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane International Airports, our highly skilled team and cutting-edge technology means we can offer you your COVID results in under 90 minutes.

www.histopath.com.au

 

[sudoer]

Popped up in my Youtube algorithm last night, could be of interest to some in this thread. He also uses the Histopath rapid testing at the airport, as mentioned in the post above.