Singapore-Hong Kong air travel bubble remains on hold, to be reviewed in July

The Singapore-Hong Kong air travel bubble will remain on hold even though the COVID-19 situation in Singapore has improved, the Ministry of Transport said Thursday. Authorities on both sides will review the situation in July before deciding on a launch date. The COVID-19 situation in Hong Kong has remained stable, with very few community cases in recent weeks, the ministry noted. “Both Singapore and Hong Kong remain strongly committed to launching the air travel bubble safely. We will continue to monitor the public health situation in both places closely,” MOT said. Both Singapore's Transport Minister S Iswaran and Hong Kong's Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau have maintained "close contact", the ministry said, adding that they agreed that both sides would review the situation in early July, before making a decision on the target launch dates of flights under the air travel bubble. “An update will be provided at that point," said MOT. The Singapore-Hong Kong air travel bubble was initially scheduled to be launched on Nov 22 last year, but it was deferred after a rise in COVID-19 cases in Hong Kong. During a press conference by the COVID-19 multi-ministry task force on Thursday, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said he did not think that Singapore had met the criteria for the resumption of the air travel bubble. “And even if we crossed the criteria for resumption … we are in a very cautious state,” Ong said in response to a question. “And so we probably don't want to rush. It’s important that at this state – embers are still there – we want to be quite cautious."<br/>