It’s been nearly two years since the coronavirus emerged, and some people are desperate to travel.
Some want to go abroad to get away from the stress of work and life, while others just want to see their family members, from whom they’ve been separated for too long.
So, when the Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) portal opened up applications for Travel Passes to Singapore from Malaysia and Indonesia, travellers must have been frustrated when this happened:
“We are currently down for maintenance. “The system is undergoing schedule maintenance and will not be available. Please try again at a later time,” a message on the site read.
Is this COVID-19 once again trying to prevent us from travelling?
Well, no. There’s a much simpler explanation.
ICA Explains Why the VTL Website Was Down for About 5 Hours on 22 Nov
It seems that the portal was inaccessible for around 5 hours on 22 Nov, after opening up at 10am
The outage was caused by a “concurrent surge” of applications, according to the Immigrations and Checkpoints Authority (ICA).
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“When the application portal for the VTP for travellers from Malaysia and Indonesia opened at 10am … there was a concurrent surge of applications which resulted in the earlier system disruption,” it explained.
Nearly 35,000 users tried to log into the site when the application portal opened to both short-term visitors and long-term pass holders.
But, unfortunately for them, they had to wait another five hours or so, as it only resumed operating at 3pm.
“ICA had upscaled the system over the weekend in anticipation, but there was an error in the configuration,” ICA said.
“We regret the inconvenience caused and thank applicants for the understanding.”
VTLs With Malaysia & Indonesia to Launch on 29 Nov
The application portal opened up exactly one week before our VTLs with Malaysia and Indonesia are due to launch on 29 Nov.
At the moment, our VTL with Malaysia does not include land links and is restricted to the skies – six airlines will provide designated flights between Changi Airport and Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
The six airlines are Singapore Airlines (SIA), AirAsia, Jetstar Asia, Malaysia Airlines, Malindo Air, and Scoot.
As for Indonesia, we have a unilateral VTL, meaning fully-vaccinated travellers from Indonesia can come here without having to quarantine, but not the other way around.
Indonesia has not launched any VTL, so incoming travellers, including those from Singapore, need to quarantine for three days.
For now, there will be two designated VTL flights from Jakarta to Singapore.
In total, there will be a quota of 10,000 daily for the VTL for all travellers arriving in Singapore.
Read Also:
- You’d Need About $1,000 to Get VTL Air Tickets to KL for CNY 2022 & It’s Only Nov 2021
- Johor Minister Said the Limit on the First Week of Land VTL is Only at About 200 People Per Day
Featured Image: ICA