All posts tagged: Covid-19

Singapore to restart travel bubble arrangement with Hong Kong from 26 May

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Will it be a second time lucky? The long awaited Air Travel Bubble (ATB) between Singapore and Hong Kong is finally set to take off from 26 May 2021, announced by both Singapore and Hong Kong on 26 Apr. This comes almost six months after the plans for the quarantine-free all-purpose travel arrangement was delayed just hours before its launch in November, and subsequently scuppered in December last year, due to a reflux of local cases in Hong Kong as new infections occured. What are the new requirements? By and large, the requirements remain the same as what was proposed last year, including: 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 …

Singapore Airlines extends Krisflyer Elite and PPS Club status for another year

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Krisflyer Elite Miles and PPS Club Reserve Values will also get another year’s validity Singapore Airlines announced last week that it will be further extending the status for KrisFlyer and PPS Club members, due to the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting uncertainty over travel plans for its frequent flyers. KrisFlyer and PPS Club status due to expire between March 2021 and February 2022 will now be automatically extended from between March 2022 and February 2023. On top of this, Singapore Airlines has also made additional concessions, such as PPS Reserve Value extension and Elite Miles rollover to provide subsequent tier renewal support. KrisFlyer Elite status extension If your existing KrisFlyer Elite Silver or Elite Gold membership expires between March 2021 and February 2022, your membership will be automatically renewed for another year. This is the case for all members even if you are unable to accrue the usual Elite Miles required, which will be the case for most members this year given the current travel outlook. This is on top of the …

Singapore-Hong Kong ATB will not proceed until 2021

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The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore officially announced yesterday (1 Dec 2020) that the Air Travel Bubble will be further delayed Singapore and Hong Kong have further reviewed the COVID-19 situation in Hong Kong, and given that local unlinked cases are still high, both parties have decided to defer the commencement of the Singapore – Hong Kong Air Travel Bubble (ATB) to beyond December 2020. The exact start date of the ATB arrangement will be reviewed in late December. Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, 1 December 2020 Second deferment The ATB was originally scheduled to launch on 22 Nov 2020. However, Hong Kong started to see a new wave of Covid-19 cases, and at the eleventh hour, authorities from both countries announced late on eve of the inaugural flights that the ATB will be postponed by two weeks, with details to be announced this week. Fast forward two weeks later, we are now looking at an early 2021 launch, given that the cases in Hong Kong remain high, with the seven-day average of unlinked cases …

Singapore-Hong Kong ATB launch deferred by two weeks

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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 …