On 23 October 2020, we asked Jamie O’Dwyer to share his experience travelling back home to London. Jamie travelled from Singapore to London in the middle of October 2020.
My wife and I are UK citizens currently living in Singapore. We’re expecting our first baby in November and after some deliberation we decided to head back to the UK so that we can be around our families. Given that the Singapore border is still pretty much shut to non residents, we felt going back to the UK was our best option.
At the time of flying, there were no restrictions on entering the UK – when entering from certain countries a two week stay at home quarantine is required, but luckily Singapore was recently taken off this list.
I didn’t notice any other pregnant people! The plane was pretty empty, but it seemed to be a mix of business travellers and some families travelling home.
Surprisingly straightforward, all that was required was an online ‘passenger locator form’ which asked for the duration of our stay and our primary residence whilst in the UK. The advice is to complete the form 24hrs in advance, but I noticed that it could be done on arrival. I went through the electronic customers gate in Heathrow and did not have to show evidence that I’d completed the form – although I suspect that there was a digital record against my passport.
Other than the fact that everyone was wearing masks, the check in process was as normal. The only difference was that I could not get an electronic version of my boarding pass. Changi on a Friday night is normally hectic, but once we got airside it was eerily quiet. We checked into a lounge, and it looked like we were the first customers of the day!
Yes, there was adequate spacing on the flight so I never felt at risk. The staff are all wearing masks and were good at keeping their distance as much as possible.
Arriving in the UK was pretty much as normal, although the entire terminal was littered with public health warnings. I noticed a hand sanitisation station which was quite a nice touch, although the masks and trolley wipes had run out!
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There were no additional costs to pay
The most shocking thing was probably how little restrictions were in place, the UK has a very different attitude to Singapore in this sense!
Yes, I would say the only discomfort came from having to wear a mask for the duration of the 13 hour flight and the reduced food service.
No quarantine was required, although the rules changed the week before I was due to travel so I was glad of this
Given that the UK has a more permissive attitude towards the virus, in the end the trip was absolutely fine. Even travelling with a pregnant wife I did not feel at risk at any point, although this was helped by the fact that there were very few people on the plane. Our return Journey to Singapore is likely to be far more stressful given that we’ll need to arrange for Covid tests and quarantine in a hotel on our arrival.
My top tip would be that the food on the plane is very limited, so make sure to take your own snacks if you have a long flight!
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