Singapore-Hong Kong air travel bubble postponed

HONG KONG (AP) - Singapore and Hong Kong have postponed a planned air travel bubble meant to boost tourism for both cities, amid a spike in coronavirus infections in Hong Kong.

The air travel bubble, originally slated to begin Sunday, will be delayed by at least two weeks, Hong Kong's minister of commerce and economic development, Edward Yau, said at a news conference on Saturday.

Hong Kong reported 43 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, including 13 untraceable local infections.

The travel bubble arrangement would originally have allowed visitors between both cities to travel without having to serve a quarantine as long as they completed coronavirus tests before and after arriving at their destinations, and flew on designated flights.

'œIn light of the situation in Hong Kong, I think it's the responsible way to put this back for a while, and then sort of relaunch it at a suitable juncture,'ť Yau said.