A partial restoration of tourist travel between Singapore and Hong Kong has been delayed at least until mid-December in response to an increase in Covid-19 infections in Hong Kong.
The so-called “travel bubble” reconnecting the two cities by air was slated to begin November 29. But that was before Hong Kong’s Centre for Health Protection identified more than 100 new cases of the potentially deadly virus in recent days, the most since late summer.
“We have decided to put this back for two weeks,” the territory’s Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau said, “in the interests of making a good start and also in the interests of avoiding any confusion among passengers.”
Singapore’s Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung said the situation would be reviewed at that point and if all goes well a new launch date would be set.
“I can fully understand the disappointment and frustration of travelers who have planned their trips,” he said. “But we think it is better to defer from a public health standpoint.”
Initial plans for the travel bubble called for one flight a day into each city, operated respectively by Cathay Pacific Airways and Singapore Airlines, with a maximum of 200 passengers per flight.
Singapore’s hard-pressed resort casinos, Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa, have been eagerly awaiting it after being forced to shut down for several months earlier this year and confined ever since to a limited market of local customers.
