As you all know, a Singaporean’s three favourite pastimes are: travelling, drinking bubble tea, and queuing up for 4D tickets. And at one point during the COVID-19 crisis, all three things were tragically taken away from us.
Fortunately, while we’ve gotten the last two back, our dusty passports have had to sit patiently in our drawer while we waited for travel to return.
And now that it finally has, Singaporeans are going insane.Â
Flight Tickets to Hong Kong Sold Out Within Hours Despite Surging to Over S$1,000
Yesterday (26 Apr), the Ministry of Transport (MOT) announced that Singapore and Hong Kong will start their travel bubble on 26 May, with one flight a day in each direction.
Unsurprisingly, flight tickets to Hong Kong started selling like McDonald’s Chocolate Pies just hours after the travel bubble was announced.
Prices nearly doubled after the announcement was made, according to TODAYonline.Â
At 10:30 am, a ticket on the inaugural Singapore Airlines (SIA) bubble flight cost S$557. This shot up to SS$1,028 after the announcement was made at 11:30am.
Despite this, seats on the first few outbound flights from Singapore sold out by Monday evening.
At the time, the first available tickets were for 7 June. An economy seat was available at S$652 for a return ticket.
So, if you’re planning a trip to Hong Kong, you should probably book your tickets soon.
Travel Bubble Will Begin “Cautiously”
MOT said Singapore’s travel bubble with Hong Kong will begin “cautiously”, with one flight a day in each direction for the first two weeks.
Then, from 10 June, two daily flights will be permitted in each direction, with up to 200 passengers per flight.
The bubble will be suspended for at least 14 days if the seven-day moving average of unlinked community cases in Singapore or Hong Kong exceeds five. This number excludes cases from migrant workers’ dormitories.
Requirements to Travel
So, who will be allowed to travel?
All travellers in the bubble must have remained in Singapore or Hong Kong for 14 days before departure.
This period excludes any time spent in quarantine or under stay-home orders arising from their last return to Singapore or Hong Kong from overseas.
Travellers arriving in Hong Kong must download Hong Kong’s LeaveHomeSafe contact-tracing app, while those arriving in Singapore must download the TraceTogether app.
Hong Kong residents need to be vaccinated before they can travel, but there’s no such rule for travellers from Singapore at the moment.
Travellers must also test negative on pre-departure and on-arrival polymerase chain reaction COVID-19 tests in lieu of quarantine or stay-home orders.
Yes, you can finally dust off your passports and use it after over a year of being starved of travel!
Feature Image: TravnikovStudio / Shutterstock.com
Would you be jailed for being half-naked in public? Well, the answer will shock you. Seriously. Watch this to the end and you'll understand:
