Covid testing for UK travellers arriving in Singapore via a Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) will be relaxed from Tuesday.

Instead of taking a PCR test on arrival at the airport, fully vaccinated visitors entering via its quarantine-free VTL scheme will instead be asked to take an antigen test within 24 hours of arrival.

Additionally, the current requirement for antigen tests to be taken after days two and seven will be removed for fully vaccinated arrivals on VTL flights.

Singapore’s Ministry of Health announced changes to entry requirements will come into effect from 23.59 local time on Monday, February 21.

The UK, along with its crown dependencies, is one of 24 nations from where Singapore’s VTL flights operate. Only Singapore citizens and permanent residents can enter Singapore without prior approval.

Singapore’s requirement for VTL arrivals to have only visited other VTL countries in the last 14 days will be reduced to seven days.

Singapore said it aims to “progressively launch VTLs with more destinations as we move towards facilitating fully vaccinated travel”. These will include a new VTL with Hong Kong and previously-deferred VTLs with Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Quarantine-free sea travel between Singapore and Indonesia will resume with the launch of VTL (Sea) between Bintan and Batam. Applications open on February 22 and the first ferry trip will take place on February 25.

Michael Rodriguez, area director for northern and southwestern Europe at the Singapore Tourism Board, said: “As travellers from the UK are now booking holidays again, we are pleased to share this latest update and hope this will encourage visitors to book their next holiday to Singapore where they can enjoy quarantine-free travel and reimagined experiences with safety in mind.”

All travellers entering Singapore under the VTL scheme must travel on designated VTL flights. They may transit via another VTL country to take a designated VTL flight into Singapore.

Requests to obtain a Vaccinated Travel Pass (VTP) must be made between three and 60 days prior to travellers’ intended date of entry into Singapore.