Singapore Airlines holds out hope for 'travel bubble' with Australia

Singapore Airlines is holding out hope for a "travel bubble" between Australia and the carrier's city-state hub, despite Qantas and other leading aviation figures warning international travel will not resume until a COVID-19 vaccine is widely available. Singapore and Hong Kong were to start the world's first, long-anticipated COVID-19 travel bubble late last month but it was delayed until next year after a spike in infections in Hong Kong. Australia has a "one-way bubble" allowing people to enter the country from New Zealand without going into quarantine while Singapore is already open to travel from Australia. But Australia has not reciprocated and still has a ban on citizens going overseas without a government exemption. SIA executive VP of commercial Lee Lik Hsin said his airline - which pre-COVID was responsible for about 8% of passenger traffic in and out of Australia, second only to Qantas - still said "bubbles" were a viable option to restart international travel."[In] the example of the Singapore-Hong Kong bubble... the governments had discussed and come to the conclusion that it was a safe way to resume mass travel, predicated under certain conditions," Lee said. "The preconditions changed because the infection rates in Hong Kong went up - that’s what’s setting the preconditions are for. As far as other countries go … we still look forward to it and we certainly hope Australians and the Australian government think the same."<br/>