Rejoice, travellers!
The travel bubble between Singapore and Hong Kong is finally going to un-burst itself and become reality on 26 May, according to CNA.
That means, you can finally escape our concrete urban jungle and our breakneck pace of life for a change—oh wait.
Anyway, here’s all you need to know about hopping on a flight to a foreign city for the first time in more than a year. Hooray!
SG-HK Travel Bubble Reintroduced With Stricter Conditions
After the bubble’s anticlimactic pause—which absolutely no one liked—the travel bubble’s reintroduction will come with stricter conditions for eligibility.
Travellers will have to have stayed in Singapore or Hong Kong for two weeks before departing for the other city, excluding time spent in quarantine or on a stay-home notice.
Not like we have a lot of choices anyway.
If you are a Hong Kong-er, you are also required to complete a full course of COVID-19 vaccination before departing for Singapore unless you are medically unsuitable, as part of the Hong Kong Government’s drive to encourage vaccination.
Travellers from Singapore, meanwhile, will have to install Hong Kong’s LeaveHomeSafe app prior to departure, the equivalent of TraceTogether. Except Hong Kong’s app doesn’t have that fancy alliteration.
The condition that a seven-day rolling average of unlinked community cases of more than five would suspend the bubble, however, remains unchanged.
*Looks at the daily COVID-19 numbers nervously*
But if you and the cities manage to fulfill the requirements, you’ll be treated to travel without restrictions on purpose or itinerary. It’ll be almost like the ancient, forgotten days before COVID-19—although you’ll still have to be tested for the coronavirus before departure and after arrival.
The resumption of the travel bubble came with an improvement in Hong Kong’s COVID-19 situation, and the risk profile of both cities have become similar, according to the Singaporean Ministry of Transport (MOT).
Even then, the reopening of international travel between the cities will be gradual and careful, with only one approved flight by Singapore Airlines (SIA) or Cathay Pacific per day, in each direction.
Each flight will also be limited to a maximum of 200 passengers, which bodes excellently for ticket prices. Expect to empty your wallets.
Nonetheless, the reopening of the travel bubble is an optimistic sign for future relaxations of international travel, according to Hong Kong’s Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau.
Yau believes the travel bubble “not only meets the aspirations of the people and business communities… but also signifies that gradual resumption of cross-border travel is achievable through mutual collaborations among different places.”
True to the observation, Singapore is already exploring travel bubbles with several other countries, including Australia and Taiwan.
(Please do South Korea next. There’s no good army stew here.)
Feature Image: Ronnie Chua / Shutterstock.com
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