SINGAPORE, 12 November 2020: Air Travel Bubble flights between Singapore and Hong Kong will start 22 November following the conclusion of negotiations earlier this week the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore announced Wednesday.
In the media statement, CAAS called it a milestone arrangement between two aviation hubs that “seeks to revive air travel in a safe and progressive way.”
Both countries have achieved progress in containing the spread of Covid-19 that encourages confidence to reopen borders gradually, with safeguards in place to ensure our public health and safety, the statement explained.
Under the travel bubble conditions, travellers between Singapore and Hong Kong will be subject to Covid-19 tests, in lieu of quarantine or Stay-Home Notice. There will be no restrictions on the purpose of travel and no requirement for a controlled itinerary or sponsorship.
Travellers from both cities must travel on designated ATB flights that will only serve ATB travellers only. At the start, there will be just one flight daily into each city with a quota of 200 travellers per flight. The aim is to increase to two flights daily into each city with a quota of 200 travellers per flight from 7 December 2020.
Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific are the two designated airlines providing the air travel bubble flights.
If the Covid-19 situation deteriorates in either city, the travel bubble arrangements would be suspended, CAAS warned. Flights will continue as long as the seven-day moving average of the daily number of unlinked Covid-19 cases does not exceed five. If the average is more than five in either city flights will halt for two weeks.
Travellers must also meet the eligibility criteria and adhere to the prevailing border control measures and public health requirements of both cities. Singaporeans who want to join a travel bubble flight must apply for approval to fly seven days prior to the flight date. They will also need to present a negative Covid-19 PCR test result valid within 72-hours of the planned departure.
“The Singapore-Hong Kong Air Travel Bubble enables us to achieve two objectives at the same time – open up our borders in a controlled manner while maintaining safety in our societies,” said Singapore’s Minister for Transport Ong Ye Kung.
“While we may be starting small, this is an important step forward. I have no doubt both Singapore and Hong Kong will co-operate fully to make this scheme work. It will be a useful reference for other countries and regions that have controlled the epidemic, and are contemplating opening their borders”.
For more details of the conditions see:
ANNEX – Key Elements of Singapore – Hong Kong Air Travel Bubble (1)
