The Singapore-Hong Kong Air Travel Bubble (ATB) is finally set to take flight again.

The Ministry of Transport (MOT) announced today (April 26) that the ATB is currently scheduled to launch on May 26, with one flight per day in each direction for the first two weeks.

Each flight will be capped at 200 passengers.

MOT said:

"Since then, the Covid-19 situation in Hong Kong has improved, with very few local unlinked Covid-19 cases over the past few weeks. Community cases in Singapore remained very low throughout the time. The risk profiles of both cities are therefore now similar."

Both cities will closely monitor the Covid-19 situation from now to the targeted launch date of May 26, and will proceed with the launch if the situation continues to be steady and under control in both cities.

What is the Singapore-Hong Kong Air Travel Bubble?

The Singapore-Hong Kong ATB is an arrangement which allows travellers to move between both cities without the need for quarantine or Stay-Home Notice (SHN).

There will be no restrictions on the type of travel or itinerary, which means that anyone who wants to travel, regardless of reason for travel, will be able to do so.

Earlier this month, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said that Hong Kong will require travellers leaving for Singapore in the travel bubble to be vaccinated.

Singapore does not currently impose such a requirement on travellers from Hong Kong.

Originally scheduled to launch on November 22, 2020

The ATB was originally scheduled to start on November 22, 2020 but was deferred one day before (November 21, 2020) following a rise in Covid-19 cases in Hong Kong.

On December 1, 2020, authorities from both sides then announced a delay to the start of the travel bubble, deferring the launch to beyond 2020.

Last week, plans to announce the resumption of the ATB were shelved again at the last minute, according to Bloomberg.

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Photos by Sébastien Goldberg on Unsplash Sean Foley on Unsplash