ISKANDAR PUTERI, March 4 — Transport Minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong said the federal government is making preparations to implement the Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) by air with Thailand and Cambodia as early as the middle of this month.

He said the matter was discussed during Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s official visit to the two countries recently.

"Now discussions are being made to determine which flights and routes will be used to implement the VTL-Air initiative to Thailand and Cambodia,” he said during a press conference after a ceremony marking Sunway Group’s donation of RM18 million to build the first public Chinese national-type primary school called SJK (C) Cheah Fah in Sunway City Iskandar Puteri here today.

Also present was Deputy Education Minister Datuk Mah Hang Soon.

Wee, who is also the MCA MP for Ayer Hitam, added that the air VTL with the two Asean countries would follow the same model used for Singapore’s Changi International Airport and Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).

"Both countries have also informed me that they will not carry out any quarantine, but for entry into Malaysia, we will use the same method as VTL-Air with Singapore,” he said.

Earlier, Singapore also issued a statement that they would be implementing an air VTL between Changi International Airport and Penang International Airport.

On February 25, Ismail Sabri said Malaysia would soon be starting the air VTL initiative with Thailand after an official visit to the country.