Man pleads with budget airline after Covid mistake sees him thrown in Singapore jail

A tourist was locked up in immigration detention in Singapore for over 40 hours after an airline gave him the wrong advice for entering the country.

Australian Richard Grant, from Darwin, was refused entry to Thailand when it was found he did not have evidence of a negative Covid PCR test. He claimed he was told by the Jetstar airline he wouldn't need one.

He was returned to Singapore, where he had transited, and was promptly stuck in a "filthy" and "freezing" detention cell manned by an armed guard.

Grant said: "It was a filthy, two bunk cell that had a washbasin and that was all. There was no hot water, it was extremely cold and they wouldn't give me any luggage.

Richard was told by an operative that there was little that could be done and they would need to end to chat (2GB)

"All I had was shorts and t-shirt on so I was freezing the whole time. It was brutal. There was a guard at my door with a gun, I wasn't going anywhere."

While in custody, Richard appealed to Jetstar for help with his situation but appears to have been met with a frosty response despite the Australian explaining he was in a cell.

An armed guard was on duty outside the cell (2GB)

In one exchange, a Jetstar operative said: "I wish I could assist you further however the outcome remains the same.

"If there's anything we haven't covered please let me know, otherwise I'll need to end this chat."

Singaporean authorities had told him that a Jetstar representative would be able to help me when they came to work at 6am, Richard was detained about four hours earlier.

Richard described the cell as "filthy" and "freezing" (2GB)

It wasn't until nearly two days later that he was released.

Eventually, Richard was allowed into Thailand, but claimed he did not get a response from the airline until he got in contact with an ombudsman.

A spokesperson for Jetstar said: "We appreciate this was an incredibly stressful situation for Mr Grant.

"This happened during a period of unprecedented government restrictions on global travel which were changing frequently, which is why we continued to strongly recommend that all passengers regularly check the entry requirements of the country they were travelling to."

Jetstar said they regret any "misunderstanding" (Getty Images)

Jetstar said it had offered Richard an option of travel, but it was not taken up "extending his time in Singapore".

"We sympathise with Mr Grant and sincerely regret any misunderstanding that may have occurred prior to travel," it added. "We will reach out to him once again to discuss what additional support we can provide."

Richard is now banned from entering Singapore, causing him some travel headaches in the future.