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A woman heads towards a gate at Hong Kong International Airport.
Christian Keenan | fake images
SINGAPORE – Leisure travel between Hong Kong and Singapore could resume in the coming weeks, as both cities work to establish a bilateral “travel bubble” that will allow travelers to waive the quarantine.
The two cities, both Asia’s major commercial and financial centers, have suffered economically as the coronavirus pandemic hit the tourism and aviation sector.
But the deal will not return the volume of travel between the two cities to what it was before the pandemic, when multiple flights traveled the Hong Kong-Singapore route every day, said Edward Yau, Hong Kong’s secretary for Trade and Economic Development.
“The concept of the bilateral corridor, what is commonly called an air travel bubble, should ensure safety, public health on the one hand; and also make travel as easy as possible,” Yau told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia.” Monday.
Specific details of the travel bubble and its start date are still being worked out, but the secretary said the two cities could start with one flight per day. The flight will only carry passengers traveling under the bubble between Hong Kong and Singapore, and will not include those traveling through either city, he explained.
The secretary outlined the other main features of the travel bubble, including:
- Require travelers to test negative for coronavirus prior to departure;
- Hong Kong may require visitors to take another test upon arrival to ensure they are “fit to travel”;
- Travelers will not have to comply with a quarantine and their itinerary will not be controlled;
- The authorities of both cities will adjust, or even suspend, the number of dedicated flights under the agreement based on the coronavirus situation.
Last year, Hong Kong recorded more than 453,000 visitor arrivals from Singapore, while Singapore received 489,000 visitors from Hong Kong, according to official statistics for the respective cities.
Yau said that in addition to Singapore, Hong Kong is also in talks with Macau and mainland China to potentially bring travel back.
