The sale of bus and flight tickets for the land and air Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) initiative between Malaysia and Singapore, which was temporarily halted on December 23, has reopened today with immediate effect.
However, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin stated that the quota for bus and flight tickets has been reduced by 50% from the existing capacity for land and air routes.
Passengers who purchased tickets for travel dates after January 20, before the announcement on the suspension of ticket sales are allowed to continue their journey using the VTL initiative in accordance with the quota set earlier,” he said in a statement issued here today.
The decision to reopen ticket sales for the two VTL initiatives, according to Khairy, was made as a result of a risk assessment based on the current COVID-19 situation in both countries.
Following the threat of the Omicron COVID-19 variant, Malaysia and Singapore temporarily suspended the sale of air and land VTL tickets until January 20.
According to Khairy, the timeline for increasing the quota for land and air VTL ticket sales is dependent on the Health Ministry’s risk assessment based on the current COVID-19 situation in both countries.
He reminded travellers using the Malaysia-Singapore VTL platform to perform self-test rapid antigen testing on the second, fourth, and sixth day after arrival, as well as RTK-Ag (professional) testing on the third and fifth day.
He said the move was in line with the ministry’s previous announcement on strengthening COVID-19 preventive measures and existing controls for international travellers, including those arriving at Malaysia’s international gateways via the VTL initiative.
To reduce the risk of infection, travellers should be responsible and always follow the instructions and stipulated standard operating procedures, as well as perform the COVID-19 detection test, he added.
He stated that the recommendation was made to ensure that cross-border travel involving the Malaysia-Singapore VTL could be implemented safely in the future.
