SINGAPORE, Oct 15 — Travellers here will soon be able to make leisure trips to Hong Kong without needing to complete a quarantine or stay-home notice period.
The arrangement is part of a new in-principle agreement between the two cities which will help to revive cross-border air travel between the two countries in a “safe and progressive way”, said the Ministry of Transport (MOT) in a press release today).
It added that the two governments are working out the details, including the start date, and these will be announced in the coming weeks.
As part of the arrangement, there will be no restrictions on the purpose of travel.
Travellers from both sides however must produce negative results on mutually recognised Covid-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests.
They will be exempt from having to serve a quarantine or stay-home notice upon arrival in both destinations but will have to travel on dedicated flights.
No transit travellers are allowed on these flights.
As part of the new arrangements, the number of dedicated flights can be adjusted or even suspended, depending on the Covid-19 situation in either city.
This is the first such travel arrangement that Singapore has established since the cities collectively shut their borders due to Covid-19.
“Both our cities have low incidence of Covid-19 cases and have put in place robust mechanisms to manage and control Covid-10,” said Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung in a statement today.
“This has given us the confidence to mutually and progressively open our borders to each other.”
The air travel bubble was a “safe, careful but significant” step forward to revive air travel and will provide a model for future collaboration with other parts of the world, added Ong.
MOT said that both governments are committed to working out the full details of the bubble in the coming weeks.
Ong had said on October 6 that the authorities were considering allowing ordinary travellers from Hong Kong and other destinations to enter the country without needing to follow a controlled itinerary or completing a 14-day quarantine.
The Government also lowered the quarantine period for inbound Hong Kong travellers to seven days from 14 and added the city to a list of low-risk countries.
Singapore has established reciprocal essential and business travel arrangements with several countries, including Brunei, China, Indonesia, Japan, and Malaysia.
The authorities have also allowed general travel to New Zealand and Brunei since September 1. — TODAY
