— A global travel divide is deepening as some countries ditch Covid-19 restrictions including quarantines, isolation and even mandatory testing for good, while others cling to years-old curbs.
And while Singapore has struck more than two dozen agreements with other countries to set up vaccinated air-travel lanes, it still requires overseas visitors to undergo almost a week of daily coronavirus tests during their stay. Anyone attending the city’s scaled-back biennial air show this week must also test negative each day as a condition of entry.
Thailand this month resumed quarantine-free tourism for vaccinated travelers. But the program’s requirements for multiple tests, registration, and a certain baseline of insurance cover have drawn criticism. Thailand expects less than 10 million foreign visitors this year, down from 40 million before the virus.
The central role that China and Hong Kong play in Asia’s aviation market means their Covid-Zero approach weighs on neighbouring nations. The number of scheduled flights into all of Asia from outside the region this month is little more than half the total before the pandemic, Cirium data show. British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd., for example, reported a surge of interest in long-haul flights in January. That was just days after a requirement that vaccinated arrivals take a Covid test before boarding a flight into England was dropped. On Feb. 11, the UK also stopped requiring vaccinated travelers to take a Covid test after arriving in England.