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Internet searches by travel-deprived Hongkongers for flights to Singapore jumped 400 per cent on the back of news the two cities planned to launch a quarantine-free travel bubble, with the rush of interest apparently prompting a spike in airfares.
Expedia said it saw the three-digit surge in customers seeking a getaway to the city state, while a Post review of fares for dates in December showed prices had shot up by at least 57 per cent in the last 24 hours, to HK$3,297 (S$577) for a round-trip ticket.
Hong Kong and Singapore on Thursday unveiled the landmark agreement to launch a bubble for general travel within “weeks” amid the havoc wreaked on the local economy – in particular the tourism industry – by the Covid-19 pandemic .
The preliminary plan involves travellers showing negative test results for the coronavirus, with no restrictions on the purpose of travel and no controlled itineraries. But passengers will not be allowed to transit.
The in-principle agreement to establish the travel bubble between the two leading Asian air hubs was possibly the world’s first arrangement of its kind, according to Singapore’s transport chief.
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