Singapore-Hong Kong air travel bubble bursts again, spiked by rising Covid-19 cases in Republic

THE Singapore-Hong Kong air travel bubble has burst for the second time, following rising community Covid-19 cases in the Republic, as the seven-day moving average of unlinked case count at six has breached the threshold of five.

On Monday, the Republic reported 21 community cases, of which 11 were unlinked, placing the seven-day moving average at 6 as computed by The Business Times - above the bubble's threshold of five.

The two governments decided not to proceed with the bilateral quarantine-free travel arrangement and this decision comes 10 days before the re-launch on May 26, Singapore's Ministry of Transport said in a statement on Monday.

New Transport Minister S Iswaran had a meeting on Monday morning with Hong Kong's Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau before coming to the decision to delay the bubble.

The two governments will decide the new launch date of the bubble towards the end of Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) in Singapore when the safe management measures are due to end on June 13 .

The bubble was announced in October 2020 and would have taken off on Nov 22, if not for a flare-up in the novel coronavirus situation in Hong Kong, resulting in it being shelved a day before the launch.

As the pandemic eased in the territory, both governments announced in April the new launch date of May 26, and air tickets on designated carriers Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific were reportedly sold out for the first week of launch.

This time, however, saw Singapore reporting a spike in cases shortly after the announcement. Several clusters had formed and prompted a two-week closure of the Changi Airport that now has the largest active cluster, and the Singapore government tightening safe management measures in the community.

Aviation-related counters were among the stocks immediately hit on Friday when the travel bubble - a bid to safely reopen borders during the pandemic - has once again seemed elusive. Then, outgoing Minister for Transport Ong Ye Kung had said the launch was likely to be delayed as the governments recognised the need to "restart safely".