The quarantine trip between Australia and Hong Kong could resume following the Air Travel Bubble (ATB) Hong Kong - Singapore, which would start on May 26. Hong Kong Secretary of Commerce Edward Yau announced details of the "Air Travel Bubble" (ATB) with Singapore and said that this scheme will also be the basis for quarantine-free travel to Australia and New Zealand.
Yau said that "Air Travel Bubble" with Singapore "Will mean that the gradual resumption of cross-border travel will be achievable through mutual cooperation between countries." The agreement with Singapore was due to start for the first time at the end of November 2020, but was suspended the day before it was launched due to an increase in Hong Kong coronavirus cases.
Under the new travel arrangement between Singapore and Hong Kong, the link will be suspended if the average COVID-19 infection in the last seven days exceeds five, either for Singapore or Hong Kong.
The Air Travel Bubble (ATB) agreement will start with one flight a day to each city.
The Air Travel Bubble (ATB) agreement will start with one flight a day to each city, operated by domestic carriers, respectively Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines, with a maximum of 200 passengers on each flight. There will be no restrictions on the purpose of the trip, but passengers traveling through Singapore or Hong Kong will not be allowed to board these flights.
Passengers will have to present the negative result of a PCR test of COVID-19 on boarding and will have to perform another test on landing. Payment for the two tests will be made by the passenger. In addition, Hong Kong residents traveling with a Hong Kong passport must have received the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine two days before the flight, in a move to encourage people to vaccinate.
Discussions between Australia and Singapore on the prospects for a travel agreement are ongoing.
Cathay Pacific says its flights will be operated by Airbus A350 aircraft, "With pilots and cabin crew who have been completely vaccinated". "We believe that these safe flights will provide an important opportunity to open similar travel arrangements to other popular destinations.", the airline said in a media release.
Singapore Airlines plans to fly Airbus A350s in the first two weeks of the ATB, before switching to four-class Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, all of which offer passengers a special menu with popular local dishes from both cities.
Discussions between Australia and Singapore on the prospects of a travel agreement are ongoing, said Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack, adding that Singapore, along with the nations in the Pacific Islands, tops the list of countries with low epidemiological risk.
On 19 April 2021, New Zealand and Australia open long-awaited "Covid-safe travel bubble" (quarantine-free travel agreement), after both countries managed to eliminate the spread of coronavirus.