A quarantine-free air “travel bubble” between Hong Kong and Singapore is finally slated to get off the ground with a start date of May 26, following setbacks that led to the plan initially being shelved in November last year.
Having been largely shut off from the rest of the world during the pandemic, the two sides have been in talks for months to revive the travel corridor.
In statements and briefings yesterday, they laid out details and requirements for would-be travelers.
Photo: AP
Hong Kong said that people must have had two vaccine doses at least 14 days before flying, while there was no such requirement from Singapore.
Cathay Pacific Airlines and Singapore Airlines are to operate the flights, with the first Cathay trip slated to leave Hong Kong at 9:10am on May 26.
Singapore Air’s departure that day is at 8:40am.
They are to begin daily flights from June 9 or 10.
The agreement limits each flight to 200 travelers.
“It has been a long few months, but the conditions are now ripe again,” Singaporean Minister for Transport Ong Ye Kung (王乙康) said in a statement. “Both sides will need to stay very vigilant in the next month so that we can launch the first flights smoothly.”
Despite occasional flare-ups, including at a dormitory for migrant workers in Singapore last week, COVID-19 caseloads in both places are low and life is returning to normal.
Hong Kong might reopen bars later this week and lengthen restaurant opening hours, among other steps to ease social distancing.
Bringing outbreaks under control was key to opening the travel bubble.
Hong Kong Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau (邱騰華) said that the requirement to get vaccinated, which does not apply to children aged 16 or younger, was designed to encourage people to sign up for inoculations.
Travelers would need to take COVID-19 tests and cannot have visited any places other than Hong Kong or Singapore in the two weeks before departure.
Travelers from Hong Kong would need to use Singapore’s TraceTogether mobile app, while those coming from Singapore would need the LeaveHomeSafe app in Hong Kong.
Records must be retained following the trip.
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