Singapore will order airlines worldwide to ban undesirable passengers from boarding flights to the city-state from Jan 30 under a new policy to boost security.
The Singapore Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said no-boarding directives would be enforced for all airlines flying to the country to prevent people who fail to meet requirements or “undesirable immigrants” from boarding planes.
Travellers are normally denied entry to a country by immigration authorities after they arrive in the country.
Singapore requires all travellers to obtain an e-arrival card within three days of their planned visit. The agency will screen travellers and then tell the airlines about persons not allowed to enter Singapore and order the airlines not to allow them to fly.
Travellers banned by airlines will be required to contact the ICA via its Facebook page to seek approval for entry before arranging a new flight, it added.
Thai Airways International, Thai VietJet, Thai AirAsia, Bangkok Airways and Thai Lion Air are among Thailand-based airlines flying directly between Bangkok and Singapore.
Singapore received about 360,000 Thai visitors from January to November last year, according to the latest statistics provided by the Singapore Tourism Board. Chinese tourists topped foreign arrivals at almost 3 million, followed by 2.2 million Indonesians.
