The Straits Times reported that Singapore's Ministry of Transport (MOT) said on Monday (April 26) that the travel bubble will have a cautious start. There will be one flight a day in each direction, capped at 200 passengers on each flight for the first two weeks.
he highly anticipated two-way travel bubble between Hong Kong and Singapore will open May 26, about six months after an initial plan for quarantine-free travel was shelved.
The Straits Times reported that Singapore's Ministry of Transport said on Monday (April 26) that the travel bubble will have a cautious start. There will be one flight a day in each direction, capped at 200 passengers on each flight for the first two weeks.
Rules for travel will also be tightened. Travelers must have remained in either Singapore or Hong Kong in the last 14 days prior to departure, and the 14 days period must exclude any time spent in quarantine or stay-home notice arising from their last return to Singapore or Hong Kong from overseas.
In addition, they must now download and install Hong Kong’s LeaveHomeSafe app on their mobile devices prior to leaving Singapore for Hong Kong.
If the air travel bubble has to be suspended when the seven-day moving average of the unlinked community cases in either Singapore or Hong Kong increases to above five, it can resume only when the Covid-19 situation has stabilized.
Meanwhile, a top European Union official said Sunday that Americans who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 should be able to travel to Europe by summer, easing existing travel restrictions.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told The New York Times that the union's 27 members would accept, unconditionally, all those who are vaccinated with vaccines that are approved" by the European Medicines Agency. The agency has approved the three vaccines used in the United States.
"The Americans, as far as I can see, use European Medicines Agency-approved vaccines," von der Leyen said. "This will enable free movement and travel to the European Union."
She did not say when travel could resume. The EU largely shut down nonessential travel more than a year ago.
European Union countries agreed this month to launch COVID-19 travel passes that would permit people who have been vaccinated against the disease, recovered from an infection or have tested negative to travel more easily, Reuters reported.
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