SIA to become world's first vaccinated airlines

This is part of an exercise to inoculate 37,000 transportation workers.

Singapore Airlines (SIA) is expected to become the world’s first vaccinated airlines amidst an exercise that aims to inoculate about 37,000 aviation and maritime frontline workers against COVID-19.

According to Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung, the Sea-Air Vaccination Exercise is important to revive the aviation industry, which has been decimated due to travel restrictions brought by the pandemic.

“When vaccinated, they will not just protect themselves and their families, but they would have taken a big step to secure the borders of Singapore and keep us safe from COVID-19,” Ong said.

He aims to substantially complete the exercise within two months.

The vaccination centres are located at Changi Airport T4 and Raffles City, which officials aim to be able to accommodate about 8,000 a day in the coming weeks.

SIA has also recently been awarded a Diamond rating in the 2021 APEX Health Safety powered by SimpliFlying audit of global airlines, which involved a 58-point checklist covering categories such as testing, tracing, on-the-ground procedures, in-flight measures, and partnerships.

“Our teams deep-dived into many checkpoints along the end-to-end customer journey. We reinforced existing procedures where necessary, enhanced some of them, introduced new measures to supplement them, and used digital technologies to complement them and support a more seamless travel experience,” SIA customer experience senior vice president Yeoh Phee Teik said.