Travellers will need a Covid test to visit Singapore Airlines lounges

Singapore Airlines' airport lounges have long been a favoured port of call for many business class passengers and top-tier frequent flyers travelling on other Star Alliance airlines – sometimes in preference to their airline's own lounge.

But in addition to showing their boarding pass or Gold-grade frequent flyer card, visitors to Singapore Airlines' SilverKris first class and business class lounges will in the future also need to produce the results of a Covid-19 test before they can tuck into some pre-flight satay or laksa.

That's the latest indication from the Singapore flag-carrier, which this week reopened its first overseas lounge at London Heathrow Terminal 2.

The airline states that anybody wanting to use the lounge – even if they're not actually flying on SQ – must present "a negative Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test taken at a recognised or accredited clinic, laboratory or medical facility within 72 hours before the scheduled departure date of your flight."

This is in line with the entry requirements of Singapore, which is of course the final destination for all Singapore Airlines' flights – so it's a given that anybody flying on Singapore Airlines will already have those results at hand, and likely stored in the Travel Pass smartphone app which has been adopted by Singapore Airlines and city-state itself.

How will this affect partner airlines?

However, if you're flying with a partner airline – most likely a fellow Star Alliance member – to a country which doesn't require proof of a negative PCR test on arrival, then it's fair to assume you won't have done that test.

And in turn, this would bar you from entering the Singapore Airlines lounge.

Singapore Airlines has ten international lounges outside of its Changi T3 hub, which will see all-new business and first class lounges opened in December 2021, along with a fresh KrisFlyer Gold lounge for Gold-grade frequent flyers booked into economy or premium economy.

These lounges are at Bangkok, Brisbane, Hong Kong, London, Manila, Melbourne, Perth, Seoul, Sydney and Taipei, although to date only the London lounges have reopened.

While Singapore Airlines hasn't formally spelled this out as policy, it's fair to expect the arrangements now in place for the carrier's London lounges will also be applied at all of its other lounges around the world.

Also read: Here is Singapore Airlines’ new Changi T3 KrisFlyer Gold lounge

David Flynn

David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.