Singapore Airlines crew and travelers in the transit lounge of Singapore’s Changi Airport on January 14, 2021.
Roslan Rahman | AFP | Getty Images
SINGAPORE – Singapore Airlines’ shares increased on Monday after the city-state confirmed it is in talks with Australia to establish a bubble in air travel.
Singapore Airlines shares rose 5.28% in early afternoon trading, after rising by up to 8.49% earlier in the day. Shares related to airlines, such as SATS, a subsidiary company that provides catering on board, rose 3.43%, while SIA Engineering advanced 5.12%.
Australian flag carrier Qantas gained 3.4%.
An air travel bubble would allow residents of Singapore and Australia to travel between the two countries without the need for quarantine. International travel routes have remained relatively limited since global borders remained closed last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Both Singapore and Australia appear to have put the infection under relative control, while vaccination programs are also underway.
“Singapore is currently in negotiations with Australia on the mutual recognition of vaccination certificates and resumption of travel with priority for students and business travelers,” the Foreign Ministry in Singapore said in a statement on Sunday.
“We are also discussing the possibility of an air travel bubble that will allow residents of Singapore and Australia to travel between the two countries without the need for quarantine,” the ministry said.
Australian citizens can transit Singapore without quarantine to return home if they travel on approved transit routes and comply with the state’s public health protocols, the statement added.
Australia’s deputy prime minister, Michael McCormack, told local media on Monday that Canberra is potentially looking into July for the Singapore travel bubble. But according to a transcript of his comments, he added that while the talks are productive, the discussions are in the early stages.
Global tourism takes a beating
Singapore’s tourism sector saw a sharp decline in the first nine months of 2020, according to data from the tourism authority. Arrivals of international visitors fell 81.2% to just 2.7 million compared to the previous year and tourism revenues fell 78.4%, to 4.4 billion Singapore dollars ($ 3.27 billion).
The city-state had already tried to create an air travel bubble with Hong Kong since last year. But it was delayed after Hong Kong reported a resurgence in new cases of Covid-19.
Last week, Singapore Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung told CNBC that the country does not give up trying to establish a travel bubble agreement with Hong Kong.
Singapore allowed visitors from certain places, including Australia, New Zealand, mainland China and Taiwan, to skip quarantine if they met certain requirements – such as a negative Covid-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test on arrival.