Singapore moves closer to Hong Kong ‘air travel bubble’, considers opening borders unilaterally

Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung said Singapore will consider more travel bubbles with countries deemed safe even if they do not reciprocate

Plans to open a fifth ‘mega terminal’ at Changi Airport will be delayed by two years due to effects of coronavirus pandemic

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Travellers at Singapore’s Changi Airport, which has been servicing only a fraction of its usual traffic due to the coronavirus pandemic. Photo: EPA

Published: 3:40pm, 6 Oct 2020Updated: 1:02pm, 20 Oct 2020

Singapore’s Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung on Tuesday signalled travellers from Hong Kong may soon be able to visit without being required to stick to a controlled itinerary or complete a 14-day quarantine.

During a 30-minute speech in parliament, Ong said Singapore had responded “positively” to Hong Kong’s intention to establish an “air travel bubble”.

“We hope to commence discussions with Hong Kong and other partners soon,” Ong said during a statement about recovery plans for the city state’s battered aviation sector and its national carrier, Singapore Airlines.

Almost 400,000 travellers from Hong Kong entered Singapore in 2018. Countries around the world have been rushing to establish bubbles to help airlines and tourism sectors recover from the debilitating effects of the Covid-19 pandemic that forced border closures and paralysed international travel.

Ong said Singapore would continue to consider similar arrangements with countries and regions deemed safe. Risks could be managed, he said, by setting a quota on the number of travellers and ensuring protocols for Covid-19 testing were followed. Although he mentioned Hong Kong twice, he did not say whether Singapore was in discussion with other potential partners.

Singapore Airlines has been battered by the fallout from the pandemic. Photo: Reuters

Singapore’s Changi Airport is an established regional tourism hub and transit point for long-haul flights between Europe and Asia but the effects of the pandemic have been so acute that plans for a fifth “mega terminal” will be delayed by two years, Ong said. A fifth terminal would have increased passenger capacity from 85 million to 140 million annually but the airport is currently servicing just 1.5 per cent of its usual volume of passengers and 6 per cent of its usual number of flights each month.