Hong Kong and Singapore will announce a start to their highly anticipated two-way air travel bubble as soon as Today.
This according to people familiar with the matter, after multiple delays.
The number of flights will be increased by June 26 if there aren’t further outbreaks in either city, one of the people said.
Hong Kong and Singapore have been working on the creation of a travel corridor for months after plans for a November start were shelved due to a virus flareup in the Chinese territory.
A plan to announce its revival last week was also canceled at the last minute by the Singapore side, a spoke person said.
The Hong Kong government said a discussion with Singapore on the re-launch “is at an advance stage and the government will make announcement as soon as practicable.”
Singapore’s transport ministry referred Bloomberg News to its most recent press release on the matter.
Singapore last week said the two cities had not fixed a date to announce the resumption of the bubble.
But “will do so once we are ready, hopefully very soon.”
While Covid-19 cases in the two places pale in comparison to many countries.
Strict requirements for the bubble to open meant outbreaks that would be regarded as small elsewhere were enough to halt progress.
Virus flare-ups in Hong Kong were the main reason for the months of delays.
Now, after stemming a March outbreak centered on a gym, Hong Kong has been reporting only a handful of new infections a day, or low double-digits at most.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam said on April 12 that the virus was “obviously contained” in the city and encouraged more people to get vaccinated.
Dangling the prospect of looser rules on social distancing for those who were inoculated.
Source: Channel News Asia