At the moment, flying to the moon on a biscuit seems more likely than leisure travel returning soon.
Thanks to the pesky coronavirus, which loves travelling as much as we do, countries all over the globe have been forced to impose border restrictions in a bid to reduce imported infections.
These border infections seem all the more shrewd given the recent discovery of a new, more contagious Covid-19 strain.
As a result, our passports, much like those 20 books and treadmill you bought for the circuit breaker, are collecting dust.
And with it becoming increasingly useless, Singaporeans are becoming increasingly hesitant to renew them.
More S’poreans Letting Their Passports Expire Since The Red Book is Now Just a Notebook
The number of passports issued by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) in 2020 dropped more than 50% when compared to the previous year, according to The Straits Times.
A total of 320,709 passports were issued last year, down from 711,617 in 2019.
As you know, Singapore passports have a validity period of five years. Once a passport expires, a Singaporean can choose to apply for a new passport if they wish to travel.
The thing with passports here, though, is that it’s not mandatory to have one. People only need to get one when they intend to travel.
As such, there are no penalties for not renewing passports which have expired, ICA said.
Most countries require your passport to be valid for at least six months before you enter, so the fact that so many Singaporeans have chosen not to renew their passports shows how slim their hopes of a vacation are.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) said earlier this month that seating capacity fell by around 50% last year.
Around 1.8 billion passengers took to the skies in 2020, compared with around 4.5 billion in 2019.
This not only forced travellers to cancel their vacation plans, but also cost the airline industry a staggering $370 billion.
So, when will things return to normal?
Global Air Travel to Recover Only By 2024
Well, I have some good and bad news.
Thanks to the growing availability of vaccines worldwide, some experts believe the demand for travel will improve soon, and expect some borders to open by mid-2021.
However, we might have to wait a little longer for air travel demand to return to pre-coronavirus levels.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said last year that it only expects global air travel to recover in 2024.
Domestic markets are also expected to recover faster than international services, which is obviously bad news for tiny Singapore.
But, if you’re an unreasonably optimistic person, and you believe leisure travel will return sooner rather than later, you can still renew your passport in one of two ways.
The more convenient option involves using ICA’s e-Service to complete an online application form.
Alternatively, you can get a Singapore Passport Application Form from ICA’s website, complete it and post it to:
Passport Unit
Citizen Services Centre
ICA Building
10 Kallang Road, Level 2
Singapore 208718
Just be warned: like your recently expired passport, your new one may end up tucked in a drawer untouched for the next few years.
Featured Image: tristan tan / shutterstock.com
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