SINGAPORE, 16 June 2021: Singapore will hold talks with Hong Kong in July to revisit the travel bubble agreement suspended last month, the Ministry of Transport reported earlier this week
The launch of the Singapore-Hong Kong Air Travel Bubble (ATB), was originally planned for 26 May, but due to spikes in new unconnected community cases, the launch was deferred. That was the second time the bubble launch aborted. Shortly after the initial agreement in November 2020, the daily frequency of unconnected cases exceeded the weekly average ceiling in both Singapore and Hong Kong.
If the seven-day moving average of daily unlinked local Covie-19 cases rises to more than five in either Singapore or Hong Kong, the ATB suspends for 14 days after a two-day ‘grace’ period.
The travel bubble will be back on the table in early July when Singapore’s Minister for Transport S Iswaran and Hong Kong Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau engage in a virtual conference.
The decision to revisit the subject follows an improvement in the Covid-19 situation in Singapore, with the number of unlinked community cases showing a downward trend. Hong Kong’s Covid-19 situation continues to remain stable, with very few community cases over the past few weeks.
The Ministry of Transport’s statement reiterated that both Singapore and Hong Kong remain committed to launching the ATB safely.
“We will continue to monitor the public health situation in both places closely. Both Minister Iswaran and Secretary Yau have maintained close contact and agreed that both sides should review the situation in early July before deciding on the target launch dates of the ATB flights,” the MOT statement concludes.
(Source: News MOT Singapore)
