SINGAPORE: Singapore Airlines (SIA) passenger flights departing from Singapore won’t be allowed to land in Hong Kong from April 3 to Apr 16, the government of Hong Kong mentioned on Friday.
The announcement came in an everyday press release providing updates and COVID-19 case numbers for the territory.
Friday’s press release stated that a passenger on SQ882, flying from Singapore to Hong Kong on Mar 31, was confirmed to have COVID-19 through a specimen collected at the Hong Kong Department of Health’s Temporary Specimen Collection Centre.
In addition, three passengers had also “did not comply with necessities specified under the Prevention and Control of Disease (Regulation of Cross-boundary Conveyances and Travellers) Regulation (Cap. 599H)”.
According to a Hong Kong government website on COVID-19, the requirements prescribed by Chapter 599H are quarantine-related.
“As such, the Hong Kong Department of Health invoked the regulation to prohibit the landing of passenger flights from Singapore operated by Singapore Airlines in Hong Kong from April 3 to 16, 2021,” noted the release.
Singapore’s aviation authority mentioned later on Friday evening that the three had done their pre-departure tests at clinics of their locations of origin that “did not meet Hong Kong’s requirements”.
In one of its statements, SIA also mentioned its passenger service from Hong Kong to Singapore is not affected.
“The health and safety of our customers and staff is our top priority. We’ll proceed to work with the authorities to ensure that all passengers meet the regulatory requirements for entry into Hong Kong,” mentioned an SIA spokesperson.
“We will also help the health authorities in all contact tracing efforts.”
The airline added: “SIA has taken immediate steps to strengthen checks at the point of embarkation to ensure that our customers are in compliance with Hong Kong’s regulatory requirements.”
The airline also apologized to all affected customers and mentioned that it’s reaching out to them to offer “all necessary assistance” and to minimize the inconvenience caused.
Earlier this week, Singapore Minister for Transport Ong Ye Kung had mentioned that the nation is studying a proposal from Hong Kong to reopen borders safely, after a Hong Kong official mentioned the territory had resumed discussions on a travel bubble with Singapore.
“We’re very pleased that Hong Kong has in recent weeks kept the pandemic under good control. This is a very positive development,” Mr. Ong mentioned in an announcement on Monday.
Singapore and Hong Kong were scheduled to launch an air travel bubble in November the last yr but it was deferred after Hong Kong saw a surge in COVID-19 cases.
On Nov 21, a day before flights were to begin, it was announced that the launch of the travel bubble had been deferred to early December.
It was later pushed back to 2021, with the exact starting date yet to be determined.
