Families in India, S'pore look forward to reuniting with loved ones

Mr Subhash Goyal, chairman of one of the biggest travel groups in India, STIC Travel, is booking two tickets for him and his wife on the first available flight to Singapore in anticipation of the launch of the vaccinated travel lane (VTL) between the two countries from Nov 29.

Both his daughters are in Singapore and he is keen on seeing his two grandsons, aged 11 and 12, for the first time in two years.

"I'm dying to see my two grandsons who are in Singapore and I have not been able to go. We talk every day," said Mr Goyal, 75.

"There is a huge demand (for travel) and a lot of families are separated now because there are a lot of Indians working in Singapore."

Under the VTL scheme, travellers from either country will be able to visit the other without the need for quarantine.

Mr Karun Arya, a 36-year-old tech executive in Singapore, welcomed the scheme, saying it will mark the end of a tough period because he and his wife will be able to see their parents in person.

"I'm thrilled. It's been an extremely frustrating year. We've been forced to watch from the sidelines as other nationalities had a much easier time being able to get permission to leave and return to Singapore, and more recently as VTLs went live with other countries too," he said.

"This now means we can travel to India and (our parents) can travel to Singapore easily since we are all vaccinated."

India and Singapore share close ties, and have strong people-to-people links. There are many Indian nationals working in Singapore as well as permanent residents and Singaporeans with family in India.

Mr Ajay Awtaney, editor of the India-based LiveFromALounge.com aviation news website, noted that a large number of the Indian diaspora call Singapore home, adding: "I would expect (passenger) traffic to Singapore to be back to normal in six months if there is no significant uptick in Covid-19 cases again."

Both countries are in talks to restart scheduled commercial flight services, with two daily VTL flights each from Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai by Nov 29.

At present, only relief flights are operating and ticket prices have soared to around 100,000 rupees (S$1,820).

India is an important tourism market for Singapore. It was the third largest visitor source for Singapore in 2019, with 1.42 million tourists.

The Singapore Tourism Board has said it looks forward to welcoming Indian tourists again.

"We hope the VTL with India will be a significant first step towards a broader travel reopening. While we do not expect a major uptick in inbound tourists from India in the immediate term, it will be useful for travellers to get used to the new protocols and for both countries to streamline processes in the coming months," said Mr G.B. Srithar, regional director (India, Middle East and South Asia) at the Singapore Tourism Board.

"India is an important market for Singapore," he added.