The travel bubble bursts for now, bubble slated for re-start on 6 Dec 2020

Travellers hoping to catch the Singapore-Hong Kong air travel bubble (ATB) will now have to wait another two weeks for it to begin, as Hong Kong is facing a possible ‘fourth wave’ in Covid-19 cases.

The ATB was originally slated to commence today (22 Nov), but a decision was made on Saturday afternoon to postpone it by two weeks given the unstable situation in Hong Kong.

On Saturday (21 Nov 2020), Hong Kong saw a total of 13 unlinked cases, bringing the seven day average of unlinked cases to 3.86. While this did not reach the mutually agreed threshold of 5, both countries agreed that it would be unwise to commence the ATB at this point.

Given the evolving situation in Hong Kong, Secretary Edward Yau and I discussed further this afternoon, and decided that it would be better to defer the launch of the ATB, by two weeks. We will review within two weeks on the new launch date and update again.

Singapore Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung

While the initial deferment is for two weeks, both governments are said to announce details of the new launch dates in ‘early December’.

Hours earlier: new on-arrival test requirement in Singapore

Just a day before the postponement was announced, Singapore has installed a new testing requirement for travellers from Hong Kong as the latest measure. Passengers travelling on ATB flights from Hong Kong to Singapore previously only needed to take a test before departing Hong Kong.

This brings the total number of tests for a round-trip journey to four: one before departure from each point, and one upon arrival at each airport.

Under the original arrangements of the ATB, there were only three tests required:

1. Pre-departure test from Singapore to Hong Kong (between S$160 to S$200)
2. On-arrival test taken upon arrival in Hong Kong (HKD499, or S$83)
3. Pre-departure test from Hong Kong to Singapore (between HKD750 to HKD2000, or S$120 to S$325)

There was previously no requirement to take a test upon arrival in Singapore. With the new requirement, the new requirement adds another S$196 to the costs of tests, bringing the total for a round-trip journey to at least S$600.

The exception will be for those who have spent less than 72 hours in either city, given the pre-departure test is no longer required if the arrival test was taken less than 72 hours before the return flight.

Children under the age of 12 are not required to take the pre-departure Covid-19 PCR test when travelling from Hong Kong to Singapore (both pre-departure and upon arrival), but is required to do so when travelling from Singapore to Hong Kong.

It’s unclear at this moment if this fourth test will continue to be required when the ATB launches on 6 Dec 2020.

Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific offer refunds

Given such late notice of the postponement of the flights, both airlines have offered free refunds or rebooking of the flights for those hoping to travel between 22 Nov and 5 Dec.

Singapore Airlines customers who no longer wish to travel on the ATB flights can request for a refund, or rebook their flights through SIA’s Assistance Request form. Any refunds will be accorded to the passengers’ original mode of payment.

For Cathay Pacific customers, they may request for full refund, exchange the value of the ticket towards Cathay Credits, or rebook the flights free of charge. Affected customers will be preliminarily rebooked on non-ATB flights, so be sure to check your email or contact your travel agent for next steps.

Seats availability very low from 6 Dec

With the bubble deferred for two weeks, passengers who were originally planning to travel between 22 Nov and 5 Dec will be scrambling to rebook flights.

Unfortunately, seats are scarce. On Singapore Airlines, there are no longer any seats available for booking on the ATB-designated daily flights SQ890 and SQ891 from the entire month of December. This is more likely to be a pre-emptive measure on SIA’s part, to accommodate affected customers who wish to rebook their flights.

For Cathay Pacific, there are barely a few seats available on select days in December, but these are expected to be fully taken up with the rebookings for the coming days. However, economy class fares have breached the S$1,000 mark, with round-trip tickets for the week of 7 Dec going at about S$1,200.

Final thoughts

Many people have probably joked about how the bubble will burst even before it begins at one point or another, no thanks to the term ‘bubble’.

The unfortunate thing has indeed happen, tragically hours before the first flight was slated to take off.

With the whole world keeping an eye on how the ATB will work out, it is indeed unfortunate that the arrangement has to be postponed as a result of a potential fresh outbreak. As Singapore Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung puts it: “it is a sobering reminder that the virus is still with us”.

Even as details of the new launch dates come up in the weeks ahead, how Hong Kong manages its cases will also be very critical. If the situation doesn’t come under control, it’s likely that the ATB will be further delayed, perhaps till 2021.

For now, we can only wait.

Details of the Singapore-Hong Kong ‘Air Travel Bubble’ has been announced. Here’s what you need to know from testing to flights, landing arrangements and more.

As promised, the Singapore authorities today shed more light on the details of the first Air Travel Bubble (ATB) arrangements between Singapore and Hong Kong.

From 22 Nov, there will be one flight a day with an initial quota of 200 passengers. This increases to 2 flights a day from 7 December, with a total of 400 visitors to be carried each day.

The story so far…

When the bilateral ATB was first announced back in October 2020 by Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam and Singapore’s Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung, it was met with much excitement by residents on both ends. The excitement arose from the fact that this is the first true leisure travel arrangement, with no restrictions on the type of travel and, more importantly, no quarantine required at either end of the journey.

These are some of the facts that were put out for those who wanted to travel via the ATB:

• Travellers must have stayed in Singapore or Hong Kong wholly for the preceding 14 days before travel. This excludes select groups of foreign workers (Holders of Work Permits or S Passes working in the construction, marine shipyard and process sectors), as requested by the Hong Kong government.
• Travellers must take mutually recognised COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests and will need to have negative test results.
• Travellers will not be subject to any quarantine or Stay-Home Notice requirements, or a controlled itinerary.
• Travellers must travel on dedicated flights for this ATB, i.e. these flights will only fly point-to-point between Singapore and Hong Kong and carry only ATB travellers. No transit passengers nor non-ATB travellers (e.g. travellers on business green lane arrangements) will be allowed on board.

New details

With the announcement today, the ATB will set to begin from 22 November 2020, starting with one daily flight dedicated to the ATB. A maximum of 200 passengers will be allowed on the flight.

If this goes well, the number of flights will go up to two a day, with no change to the maximum number of passengers on the flight. This effectively doubles the number of passengers to be carried.

The air travel bubble will be suspended for two weeks if the seven-day moving average of the daily number of unlinked COVID-19 cases is more than five in either Singapore or Hong Kong.

Both governments have been very careful since the first announcement of the ATB to point out that the initial numbers will be deliberately kept very small, with the ability to scale up or down, depending on the Covid-19 situation in both countries.

Testing requirements

There will be a total of three tests required: two when you are departing Singapore to Hong Kong, but only one when you are departing Hong Kong travelling to Singapore.

From Singapore

Travellers will need to take a PCR test within 72 hours before the departure time. Those departing from Singapore must apply for approval to take their PCR test at least seven days before departure, and will need a confirmed flight ticket to Hong Kong to do so.

The PCR test will be from a sample obtained through a nasal swab, and currently priced at about S$200 per test.

Upon arrival in Hong Kong, you will need to take another test at the airport, and wait at the airport for test results before you can leave. The test will cost HK$499 (S$90).

From Hong Kong

Travellers will be required to take a PCR nucleic acid test in the city at most 72 hours before departure with test results available before flight. This can be done at any of the government-approved clinics and laboratories, or at the community testing facilities. Depending on where you go, the test can be a nasal swab or a deep throat saliva sample.

At the time of writing, the cost of taking a test at a private facility is between HK$700 to HK$2000 (S$122 to S$350), while the community testing facility is estimated to be HK$240 (S$42). At the time of writing, it’s unclear whether visitors to Hong Kong can use the community testing facility.

Note: Regardless of which city you are departing from, if your return flight is less than 72 hours from the time you last took a Covid-19 test, you will not be required to take the second pre-departure test.

E.g. If you arrive in Hong Kong from Singapore on 10 Dec at 1900H and took the arrival Covid-19 test at 2000H. If you are scheduled to return to Singapore on 13 Dec at 0910H, you will not be required to take the pre-departure test out of Hong Kong.

Flights for ATB

Both Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific have announced flights under the ATB, as follow:

Singapore Airlines (using an Airbus A350-900 Regional)

Sector	Flight No.	Departure	Arrival	Days Operating (22 Nov – 6 Dec)	Days Operating (From 7 Dec)
SIN-HKG	SQ890	1000	1400	22 Nov (Sun)
	SQ890	0800	1145	23 Nov (Mon)
	SQ890	0735	1120	25, 27, 29, 30 Nov 2, 4 Dec	Daily
HKG-SIN	SQ891	1255	1655	23 Nov (Mon)
	SQ891	1230	1630	25, 27, 29, 30 Nov 2, 4 Dec	Daily

Cathay Pacific (using an Airbus A350-900)

Sector	Flight No.	Departure	Arrival	Days Operating (22 Nov – 6 Dec)	Days Operating (From 7 Dec)
SIN-HKG	CX734	1500	1900	24, 26, 28 Nov 1, 3, 5, 6 Dec	Daily
HKG-SIN	CX759	0910	1300	22, 24, 26, 28 Nov 1, 3, 5, 6 Dec	Daily

For the first two weeks from 22 Nov, Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific will both operate the first outbound ATB service from their respective countries, and then proceed to alternate days in a week to operate the once-daily ATB flight, with Singapore Airlines taking Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and Cathay Pacific taking Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

For the first two Sundays, SIA will operate ATB service on 29 Nov, Sunday, while Cathay will operate the ATB service on 6 December, Sunday.

Both airlines will increase to a daily service from 7 December, when the quota increases to two flights a day.

With those services serving the ATB facility, the following flights will continue to serve non-ATB passengers, including transit passengers and RGL visitors. Passengers previously booked on Singapore Airlines for non ATB purposes will be transferred to Scoot.

Airline	Sector	Flight No.	Departure	Arrival	Days of Ops	Aircraft
Singapore Airlines	SIN-HKG	SQ872	1450	1850	Wed, Thu, Sat	B787-10
	HKG-SIN	SQ871	1955	2355	Wed, Thu, Sat	B787-10
Scoot	SIN-HKG	TR980	1415	1815	Tue, Fri, Sun	B787-9
	HKG-SIN	TR981	1915	2320	Tue, Fri, Sun	B787-9

Award tickets and fares

When in-principle agreement for the ATB was first announced last month, flight searches jumped 400% and fares rose 40% in response to the news, despite specific ATB flights not yet being confirmed.

There have been previous news reports on how airfares to and from Hong Kong have jumped, despite details of the ATB not being released yet.

For those who are looking to use miles to redeem for tickets on this route, our only advice is to keep your miles back in your wallet.

At the time of writing, there are no longer any award seats available on Singapore Airlines’ services between Singapore and Hong Kong all through end January 2021.

Cathay Pacific have also greyed out all its award availability across all cabins, even right up to the most expensive ‘Choice’ and ‘Tailored’ awards through end of January 2021. You may however place yourself on the waitlist and hope it comes through.

As such, your best bet will be a cash ticket instead.

Cathay Pacific has done up a dedicated page for the ATB, with flights now going on sale. Flights for the ATB are marked with a Travel Bubble label, so you know which ones you can book.

The cheapest fares available for Cathay Pacific seems to be the following:

Cabin Class	Fare Class	All-in fare (S$)
Economy	V	$557
	L	$682
	M	$787
Premium Economy	E	$1157
	R	$1262
Business	I	$1789
	P	$2149
	D	$2619
	C	$3224

Singapore Airlines has not released any information on the ATB flights, but based on a quick search on its website, fares begin from $557 round-trip out of Singapore:

Cabin Class	Fare Class	All-in fare (S$)
Economy	W	$558
	H	$697
	M	$802
	E	$872
Business	U	$1961
	J	$2729
	C	$3334

Of course, the lower fare classes have all been snapped up or closed off by now, so be prepared to shell out a premium.

For those who are more price-sensitive, you might want to go with Cathay Pacific. While the return flight is a tad early, the difference in price between both airlines may not be worth the additional time in Hong Kong.

More information

Singapore’s Immigration and Checkpoint Authority has set up a dedicated page with more information on the ATB.

There is a dedicated website set up by Hong Kong Tourism Board on the Air Travel Bubble, which you can refer to for more information.