SIA starts flying with fully vaccinated crew

In welcome news, Singapore Interntional Airlines (SIA) has started operating flights with full sets of crew members vaccinated against COVID-19 as the city-state seeks to rejuvenate its status as an international travel hub. The airline said pilots and cabin crew on three international flights from Singapore had received both of the required doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

The Singapore government has urged workers of the national airline to sign up for its inoculation programme in a bid to make SIA the world's first carrier with all staff vaccinated against COVID-19.

Three flights with a fully vaccinated crew of Singapore Airlines which  flew to Jakarta, Bangkok and Phnom Penh were among the first in the world to do so.

The carrier said more than 90 per cent of its cabin crew and pilots have signed up for the vaccine. Around 85 per cent of those have received at least the first dose, and many have begun getting the second dose, it added. SIA expects all those who have signed up to receive the second dose by the end of March.

Singapore, a major international trade and travel hub, lacks a domestic travel market and international travel is expected to take time until 2024 to rebound to 2019 levels, according to industry estimates.