SIA flights from S'pore barred from landing in HK from April 3 to 16 after detection of Covid-19 case
SINGAPORE – Singapore Airlines (SIA) flights from Singapore have been barred from landing in Hong Kong for two weeks.
The move comes after a passenger who arrived there on Wednesday (March 31) was confirmed to have Covid-19 while three other passengers on the flight failed to comply with local health regulations.
It also comes just as talks on re-establishing a much-delayed air travel bubble between the two cities had resumed.
The Hong Kong government said on Friday that the positive case was detected through a specimen collected at the airport.
Three passengers on the same flight – SQ882 from Singapore to Hong Kong – had also failed to comply with local Covid-19 regulations for inbound travellers.
Hong Kong’s Health Department then invoked regulations to bar the daily SIA passenger flight from Singapore to Hong Kong from April 3 to 16.
No further details on the passengers were provided.
An SIA spokesman confirmed the flight ban but noted that passenger services from Hong Kong to Singapore are not affected.
The spokesman added: “We will continue to work with the authorities to ensure that all passengers meet the regulatory requirements for entry into Hong Kong. We will also assist the health authorities in all contact-tracing efforts.”
The ban could hinder progress on setting up a travel corridor between Singapore and Hong Kong.
Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung said earlier this week that Singapore is studying a proposal from Hong Kong to allow quarantine-free flights.
“We are very happy that Hong Kong has, in recent weeks, kept the pandemic under good control,” Mr Ong had said in a statement on Monday. “This is a very positive development.”
Hong Kong Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau had proposed that passengers taking the Singapore-Hong Kong quarantine-free bubble flights be vaccinated.
He said that Hong Kong residents who take part in travel-bubble arrangements would have to have two doses of vaccine and wait at least 14 days after the second jab before they can go on those flights.
A travel bubble between Singapore and Hong Kong was supposed to be launched last November, but was halted before the first scheduled flight when Hong Kong saw a spike in Covid-19 cases.
The arrangement was deferred to early December before being pushed back again, and still remains on ice.
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