Singapore will "carefully restore" air connectivity with China while monitoring the evolving COVID-19 situation globally, Transport Minister S Iswaran said on Monday, a day after China reopened its border for international travellers under new "no quarantine" rules.
At the same time, Iswaran said that Singapore will continue with a cautious approach to ensure passengers have a safe and smooth experience.
"As China reopens its borders, we will continue with this cautious approach to ensure that Changi Airport has the capacity to manage the ramp-up in flights, provide clarity and certainty to airlines, and ensure that passengers have a safe and smooth experience," he was quoted as saying by Channel News Asia.
He noted that Singapore and Chinese airlines have applied to operate more flights between the two countries, and the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) is evaluating these applications.
Singapore has "paced the resumption of flights” to ensure that Changi Airport has the capacity to support the anticipated flight and passenger flows, he said.
"This has given our aviation stakeholders valuable lead time to build up their capacity while recruiting and training their workforce,” he added With the number of weekly flights at Changi Airport having recovered to nearly 80 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, there were 25 weekly flights between China and Singapore as of the end of October 2022, Iswaran said.
This increased to 36 weekly flights around mid-December last year.
There are currently 38 weekly flights between the two countries, including two recently approved flights to Beijing. This works for an average of five to six flights between Singapore and China per day at Changi.
“To put this in context, it is less than 10 per cent of the number of flights pre-COVID between China and Singapore … and about 1.5 per cent of the total flights handled by Changi today,” explained Iswaran.
"We receive between 700 and 1,000 inbound passengers from China daily, which again is about 1 to 1.5 per cent of the total daily arrivals at Changi - and this is also less than 10 per cent of our pre-COVID levels," the minister said.
More than 60 per cent of these travellers from China are Singapore citizens, permanent residents and long-term pass holders, he added.
According to the report, the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) requirements have also been stepped up for all Changi Airport workers in passenger-facing and janitorial duties.
"Throughout this process, our top priority has been protecting the health of our aviation workers, travellers, and the broader community," said Iswaran.
"The Changi aviation community stakeholders are also making a concerted push to ensure airport workers are well protected by keeping their vaccination up to date," he said, noting that airport workers can also get their booster shots at the new facility at the Raffles Medical clinic at Terminal 3.
"As of now, almost 100 per cent of the workers have attained minimum protection as defined by the Ministry of Health, and about half have up-to-date protection," he said.
Iswaran further said that aviation authorities stand ready to respond quickly if there is a material change in the Health Ministry's risk assessment, such as the emergence of a new variant of concern.
"This is the new normal for aviation as we emerge from COVID-19,” he said.
