Thailand
Singapore, Hong Kong defer travel bubble again to ‘protect the health of travellers and public’
SINGAPORE, May 17 — The air travel bubble (ATB) between Singapore and Hong Kong, which was set to be relaunched on May 26, has been delayed again amid the worsening Covid-19 situation in Singapore.
In a statement today, Singapore’s Ministry of Transport (MOT) said the new launch date will be reviewed towards the end of Phase 2 (heightened alert), which is June 13.
“Both sides remain strongly committed to launching the ATB safely,” the ministry said.
“However, in light of the recent increase in unlinked community cases, Singapore is unable to meet the criteria to start the Singapore-Hong Kong air travel bubble.”
It added: “Both sides therefore agreed to defer the launch of the ATB to protect the health of travellers and the public in these two places.”
This was not the first time the Singapore-Hong Kong travel bubble, which would allow people to travel between the two cities without serving quarantine, had been delayed.
The arrangement was originally set to begin last November but was put on hold a day before the scheduled launch when a spike of Covid-19 cases hit Hong Kong.
In late April, the cities’ authorities announced a relaunch of the travel bubble under stricter conditions such as allowing only one flight a day in each direction.
The latest deferment was decided on Monday morning after a meeting between Minister of Transport S Iswaran and Mr Edward Yau, the Hong Kong government’s secretary for commerce and economic development.
The authorities had said previously that the bubble would be suspended for at least 14 days if the seven-day moving average of community cases with no known origins in Singapore or Hong Kong surpasses five. This number excludes cases from dormitories housing migrant workers.
In Singapore, the number of cases in the community with unknown origins has risen to 32 this past week, from six cases in the week before.
MOT said travellers may continue their flying between the two cities, but they will be subject to the destination city’s prevailing border control and health requirements.
Singapore residents returning from Hong Kong, for example, will have to serve a seven-day stay-home notice upon arrival.
The airlines will be contacting affected passengers to render assistance, MOT said. — TODAY