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Singapore's planned Air Travel Bubble (ATB) with Hong Kong has been announced and deferred several times over the past seven months, much to the chagrin of eager travellers.

Most recently, it was set to launch on May 26, but was once again deferred due to the evolving Covid-19 situation in Singapore.

On Thursday (Jun. 10), the Ministry of Transport (MOT) shared in a press release that Singapore and Hong Kong are both still strongly committed to launching the ATB safely.

Both Singapore and Hong Kong "strongly committed" to launch ATB

MOT reiterated that both Singapore and Hong Kong will continue to monitor the public health situation in both places closely.

The press release added that Minister for Transport S Iswaran and Hong Kong Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau have maintained in close contact.

They have agreed that both sides will review the situation again in early-July, before making a decision on the target launch dates of the ATB flights.

An update will be provided then, the ministry wrote.

Review towards the end of Phase 2 (Heightened Alert)

In an MOT press release on May 17, the ministry announced that the ATB would be delayed, as Singapore was not able to meet the criteria to launch it.

MOT said that Singapore and Hong Kong would closely monitor the public health situation in both places, and review the new launch date of the ATB flights towards the end of Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) in Singapore.

On Thursday (Jun. 10), the Multi-Ministry Taskforce (MTF) on Covid-19 announced details regarding Singapore's transition from Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) to Phase 3 (Heightened Alert) starting from Jun. 14.

MOT also provided an update on the ATB situation, noting that the Covid-19 situation in Singapore has improved, with the number of community cases and local unlinked cases indicating a downward trend.

The ministry also noted that Hong Kong's Covid-19 situation remains stable, with very few community cases over the past few weeks.

Top photo by @shawnanggg on Unsplash.