This file photo shows immigration clearance counters at Terminal 1 (T1) of Changi Airport in Singapore, on Thursday, Dec 13, 2018. (NICKY LOH / BLOOMBERG)
HONG KONG – Secretary for the Civil Service of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government Patrick Nip Tak-kuen said on Saturday that the Air Travel Bubble (ATB) between Hong Kong and Singapore is expected to be launched soon.
Nip said on social media that the HKSAR government has also begun to actively explore the possibility of establishing ATB with Japan, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand.
The ATB between Hong Kong and Singapore, originally scheduled to be launched at the end of 2020, has been deferred due to the unstable pandemic situation at that time. It will be Hong Kong's first ATB arrangement made with other places to resume cross-border travel and orderly restart economic activities.
Under the ATB arrangement, stringent measures will be in place to safeguard public health, including mutually recognized COVID-19 tests, designated flights for ATB passengers, and a scalable mechanism to adjust the ATB arrangement according to the epidemic situation.
ALSO READ: Singapore eases COVID-19 rules for travelers from HKSAR