Singapore and Hong Kong have reached an in-principle agreement to establish a first-in-Asia bilateral air travel bubble, which will exempt travelers from quarantines or stay-home notices.

Those traveling under the bubble will have no restrictions on their travel purpose and will not need to have a controlled itinerary.

Travelers will also not be subject to quarantine or stay-home notice requirements.

However, travelers will need to test negative on mutually recognized COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests.

They will also be required to go on flights dedicated to those traveling under the bubble.

The travel bubble can be scaled by adjusting the number of dedicated flights upwards or downwards, or even suspended, in line with the latest developments and COVID-19 situation in the two cities, the ministry said.

“Both our cities have a low incidence of COVID-19 cases and have put in place robust mechanisms to manage and control COVID-19,” the Minister for Transport of the Republic of Singapore, Mr. Ong Ye Kung said. “This has given us the confidence to mutually and progressively open our borders to each other. It is significant that our two regional aviation hubs have decided to collaborate to establish an Air Travel Bubble. It is a safe, careful but significant step forward to revive air travel, and provide a model for future collaboration with other parts of the world.”

The air travel bubble launch date and other implementation details will be announced in due course.

Singapore and Hong Kong enjoy strong trade, investment, finance, tourism, and people-to-people ties. Both cities are major aviation hubs, and the international air route between the two cities was among the busiest in the Asia-Pacific region pre-COVID-19.