SINGAPORE – A travel agency in Singapore is extending support to its travellers to return on the next available flights to the country, even cutting short travel plans, amid tightening travel restrictions.
The safety of customers is key and we are extending our best efforts to fly them back safely. This has meant that some travellers needed to cut short their itineraries. For example those on London itinerary will have to forgo the Ireland leg,– Alicia Seah, director of marketing communications of Dynasty Travel
“We are seeing a lot of travel disruptions at the moment, but customers are aware that this is an unprecedented situation, so arrangements have to be made to return as soon as possible before the destination may be on lockdown and there are no available flights out,” said Alicia Seah, director of marketing communications of Dynasty Travel.
With such extraordinary circumstances, the agency is looking at all means to book its customers “on the best possible flights back”, even on available indirect routes that transit in the Middle East.
The agency is currently focused on assisting its customers in London, who are largely leisure travellers, as well as students studying in Sydney.
“The safety of customers is key and we are extending our best efforts to fly them back safely. This has meant that some travellers needed to cut short their itineraries. For example, those in London will have to forgo the Ireland leg of their trip,” Ms Seah explained.
With demand surging on the fewer available flights and routes, this has resulted in higher airfares, with tickets that would have normally cost S$1,200- to S$1,400 now hitting S$2,700, according to Ms Seah.
“We all need to do our part for situation to be controlled and curbed, which has meant drastic measures at the moment,” she added.
Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and Singapore Airlines (SIA) have come to "a special arrangement" to fly Singaporeans and Singapore permanent residents (PRs) home amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Singapore High Commission in London said it had struck “an exclusive ticket arrangement” with SIA to fly Singaporeans and PRs back to Singapore from 19 to 31 March, subject to availability.
All travellers returning to Singapore from Hubei, the epicentre of the pandemic, will have to observe a 14-day quarantine, according to a travel advisory by Singapore Tourism Board on Wednesday (18 March). Travellers returning from other destinations will be placed under a 14-day stay-home notice.
Local hotel groups have also extended preferential rates for returning overseas Singaporeans to serve their stay-home notice.
Pan Pacific Hotels Group (PPHG), which has four participating hotels, is offering 15 to 20% of its total room inventory to accommodate guests. It will offer assistance in accordance with the Ministry of Health’s guidelines, such as laundry services, in-room dining and additional bottled water and amenities.
Park Hotel Group, which has six hotels offering rooms for travellers, will take necessary precautions as well as offer laundry services to daily mini bar and personal shopping service.