Statement on the Singapore-Hong Kong Air Travel Bubble

1. On 20 July, Singapore and Hong Kong announced that we would review the status of the Singapore-Hong Kong Air Travel Bubble (ATB) in late August.

2. Singapore Minister for Transport, S Iswaran, and Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, Edward Yau, have since discussed and agreed not to pursue further discussions on the ATB at this point.

3. In Singapore, a substantial proportion of our population is fully vaccinated. Hong Kong too is progressively vaccinating its population. Both sides are focused on keeping our populations safe and preventing the risk of imported cases. But our strategies differ, with Singapore now taking steps towards becoming a COVID-resilient nation. Against this backdrop, both parties agreed that it would not be possible to launch or sustain the ATB in its present form.

4. Both Singapore and Hong Kong reaffirm the importance of maintaining connectivity between our cities. As major aviation hubs, travel links between Singapore and Hong Kong are critical for our businesses and our people. To this end, Hong Kong will continue to consider adjusting its border measures to facilitate travellers from Singapore to enter Hong Kong. Singapore has also announced earlier today that it will be adding Hong Kong to Category I under its country/ region classification and will be unilaterally lifting its borders to travellers from Hong Kong from 20 August 2021, 2359 hours.

5. Singapore and Hong Kong will continue to explore new ways of strengthening connectivity and links with each other, and revive the air travel between our two major international aviation hubs.