Air travel bubble postponed due to the sudden rise of COVID-19 cases in Hong Kong

The Hong Kong government’s statement said, “The decision on a further deferral of the launch date of the ATB [air travel bubble] was taken in view of the severity of the epidemic situation in Hong Kong, with the number of local cases of unknown sources increasing rapidly,” 

Hong Kong is witnessing a spike in infections with the “fourth wave of the coronavirus”, after a four-month high of 115 new infections were reported Sunday and another 158 over the past two days. 

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore said in a statement, “Singapore and Hong Kong have further reviewed the COVID-19 situation in Hong Kong, and given that local unlinked cases are still high, both parties have decided to defer the commencement of the Singapore-Hong Kong Air Travel Bubble to beyond December 2020.” 

“The exact start date of the ATB arrangement will be reviewed in late December.” 

The Hong Kong and Singapore bilateral agreement’s initial flight was scheduled to?commence last November 22?but postponed a day before the launch. 

Air travel bubble terms

The travel bubble will allow residents to travel freely between the two financial hubs as long as they test negative for the coronavirus, allowing?travelers?of all kinds to bypass quarantine.? 

The agreement would have seen Hong Kong and Singapore start with one flight a day into each city with a quota of 200 travelers per flight, rising to two flights every day from 7 December if the situation remained stable, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS). 

Hong Kong has reported 6,314 coronavirus cases, including 109 related deaths. 

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