SIA resumes transit flights from UK with tweaked format

SIA has restarted ferrying some passengers from the United Kingdom through Changi Airport in a tweaked format, after it received a limited exemption for a ban on short-term UK travellers. Unlike the usual arrangement where transit passengers would alight at Changi before boarding another plane for flights to the two exempted destination countries - Australia and New Zealand - SIA has adjusted its offering to have a "same-plane through service". This means that its planes from the UK's Heathrow Airport would stop for about 90 minutes in Singapore, where returning Singaporeans and permanent residents would disembark, before flying on to Sydney in Australia or Auckland in New Zealand, SIA said. All long-term pass holders and short-term visitors with travel history to the UK within the last 14 days have been banned from entering or transiting through Singapore from 11.59pm on Dec 23, following the emergence of a new coronavirus strain there. But SIA said late last week that it has received approval to fly passengers from the UK to Sydney or Auckland via Singapore, with several precautions in place. These include taking a polymerase chain reaction test within 72 hours prior to their flight to prove they are not infected, and undergoing a pre-departure health assessment to ensure they do not have a fever and are fit to fly.<br/>