ALL pilots, cabin crew members and passengers on business aviation aircraft will be required to make a health declaration under the Infectious Diseases Act before they are permitted to depart for Singapore.
This is part of the additional measures for business aviation aircraft that operate into Singapore which will be implemented by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS), effective March 12, 2020 at 11.59pm Singapore time.
If any air crew member or passenger declares himself or herself to be unwell, the operator of the flight will be instructed to operate the flight as a medical evacuation (medevac) flight, and the unwell crew member or passenger will be considered a patient, CAAS said in a statement today.
According to CAAS, a person is defined unwell if the person has fever at temperature 37.5 degree celcius or higher; and/or the person has pneumonia or respiratory symptoms of any degree of severity, including cough, runny nose, sore throat, and shortness of breath.
CAAS said all patients arriving on medevac flights are required to be tested negative for Covid-19 at the source country before they are permitted to fly to Singapore.
“They would also need to have a hospital in Singapore to receive them,” it said, adding that a risk assessment of the patient must be provided to the receiving hospital.
“This applies also to patients who appear to have conditions that are non-infectious,” it said.
CAAS noted that business aviation aircraft passengers and air crew members on non-medevac flights, who exhibit fever and/or other symptoms of respiratory illness upon arrival and who are non-Singapore residents, will not be allowed to enter Singapore.
The aircraft will be required to turn around as soon as practicable, bearing in mind medical and flight safety, it said.
The authority said that Singaporeans (SC), Permanent Residents (PR) and Long-term Pass (LTP) holders arriving on these flights will be required to go through the current arrival screening process which may include a COVID-19 swab test before entering Singapore.
“Air crew and passengers of business aviation aircraft who make false declarations can be prosecuted under Singapore law, including the Infectious Diseases Act.
“The penalties for such false declarations include imprisonment and/or fines,” it said. – March 11, 2020, Bernama