Australia and Singapore in Talks to Start a Travel Bubble by July 2021

Good news for those eagerly awaiting a trip to the Land Down Under! The governments of Singapore and Australia have commenced talks to potentially open a travel bubble between the two countries. According to a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) on 14 Mar 2021, Sunday, the ongoing discussions will focus on establishing both countries as destinations that do not require quarantine for visitors. This will allow residents from both countries to travel without the mandatory quarantine periods.

Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack said Australia was “working with Singapore at the moment potentially for a bubble (beginning) in July.” 

Also read: France Eases COVID-19 Travel Restrictions for Seven Countries, Including Singapore

Priority for student and business travellers

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The news was first reported by The Sydney Morning Herald, which stated that the Australian trade minister, Dan Tehan, had been in contact with Singapore’s minister for trade Chan Chun Sing about the Australia–Singapore travel bubble. Both ministers have agreed on resuming travel with mutually recognised vaccination certificates and priority for students and business travellers. 

With Singapore and Australia keeping their respective COVID-19 situations relatively stable thus far, Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has decided that now is a good time to kickstart travel bubble talks.

“Australia is a key partner of Singapore in the region. We are in discussions on how to cooperate in opening our economies safely, taking into consideration the COVID-19 situation in both countries,” said the MFA. 

More travel bubbles expected for both countries

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With vaccines rolling out in many countries, more countries will be encouraged to relax border controls and eventually open them. Singapore has already established travel corridors with low-risk countries such as Taiwan, China, Brunei, and Australia. Furthermore, Australia has an existing travel bubble arrangement with New Zealand.

Also read: Vaccinated Against COVID-19? Here’s A List of Countries You Can Visit

“If only others start to do it, then we’ll have a bubble, you have reciprocity, you can start to travel. And I hope sometime this year we can do that,” said Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung. Let’s hope that the potential Australia and Singapore travel bubble would pave the way for 2021 to be the year where we start to take to the skies again.