Singapore and Hong Kong have mutually agreed on Thursday (19 Aug) to not further pursue the long-delayed air travel bubble (ATB) for quarantine-free travel between the two countries due to their differing approaches to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a statement yesterday, the Ministry of Transport (MOT) said that Transport Minister S Iswaran and Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, Edward Yau, have agreed not to pursue further discussions on the ATB at this point.
“In Singapore, a substantial proportion of our population is fully vaccinated. Hong Kong too is progressively vaccinating its population. Both sides are focused on keeping our populations safe and preventing the risk of imported cases.
“But our strategies differ, with Singapore now taking steps towards becoming a COVID-resilient nation. Against this backdrop, both parties agreed that it would not be possible to launch or sustain the ATB in its present form,” it stated.
The Straits Times reported that Hong Kong has tightened its border control measures on Friday (20 Aug), with vaccinated travellers from Singapore and other places deemed to be of medium-risk of infection having to serve a 14-day quarantine.
However, MOT said that Hong Kong will continue to consider adjusting its border measures to facilitate travellers from Singapore to enter the city.
It stated that Singapore will still be adding Hong Kong to its list of Category 1 nations, allowing visitors from Hong Kong to enter the city-state with just one on-arrival COVID-19 swab test starting from 11.59pm tonight.
“Singapore and Hong Kong will continue to explore new ways of strengthening connectivity and links with each other, and revive the air travel between our two major international aviation hubs,” the Ministry added.
The ATB between the two cities was initially scheduled to start last November but was deferred after a spike in COVID-19 cases in Hong Kong.
It was reported on 2 April that the Government of Hong Kong has barred Singapore Airlines (SIA) passenger flights to land in Hong Kong from 3 April to 16 April, after a passenger flying from Singapore to Hong Kong on 31 March was confirmed to have COVID-19.
Subsequently, on 14 April, then-Minister for Transport Ong Ye Kung noted that both countries were “finalising details” on the revised agreement to start the air travel bubble between the two cities.
His announcement was made a day after Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam said that only those who have been fully vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus will be allowed to fly from Hong Kong to Singapore under the travel bubble.
Bloomberg reported on 22 April that both cities postponed a planned announcement on the ATB, of which the cancellation was said to be initiated by the Singapore side, according to people familiar with the matter.
The ATB was then slated to launch on 26 May with “more stringent arrangements” in place, before being deferred again on 17 May amid a spike in COVID-19 cases in Singapore at the time.
