Surge in bookings as Hong Kong-Singapore travel bubble start date confirmed
The highly anticipated Hong Kong-Singapore travel bubble will kick off on 22 November.
The air travel bubble will replace mandatory quarantine with Covid-19 testing and flights will initially operate several times a week on Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific.
They will increase to daily flights by 7 December.
There is a maximum quota of 200 passengers a day, rising to 400 on 7 December.
The announcement led to a big surge in travel searches and bookings on the route, with some of the first flights already full.
Within a few hours of the announcement, travel searches for both destinations spiked 300%.
Since the air travel bubble was first mooted, airfares between the cities have risen by about 35%.
IATA welcomed the move as a step in the right direction and a potential model for other busy cross-border air routes.
"We look forward to seeing Hong Kong and Singapore expand this arrangement with other destinations, and for other governments to adopt a similar approach," said Conrad Clifford, IATA’s Regional Vice President for Asia Pacific.
Written by Ray Montgomery, Asia Editor
TravelMole Editorial Team
Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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