Singapore Airlines crew and travelers at Changi Airport transit hall in Singapore on January 14, 2021.
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SINGAPORE – Shares of Singapore Airlines skyrocketed on Monday after the city-state confirmed it was in talks with Australia to set up a bubble.
Shares of Singapore Airlines were up 5.28% in early afternoon trading, up 8.49% earlier in the day. Aviation-related stocks such as SATS, a subsidiary that offers on-board catering, were up 3.43%, while SIA Engineering was up 5.12%.
The Australian flag carrier Qantas won 3.4%.
A bubble would allow residents of Singapore and Australia to travel between the two countries without quarantine. International travel itineraries have remained relatively limited since world borders were closed last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Both Singapore and Australia appear to have brought the infection under relatively control, while vaccination programs are also underway.
“Singapore is currently in talks with Australia on mutual recognition of vaccination certificates and resumption of priority travel for students and business travelers,” the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Sunday.
“We are also discussing the possibility of a bubble, which would allow residents of Singapore and Australia to travel between the two countries without quarantine,” the ministry said.
Australian citizens can travel through Singapore without quarantine to return home if they travel on approved transit routes and comply with state public health protocols, the statement said.
Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack told local media on Monday that Canberra may be looking to July for the Singapore travel bubble. But according to a transcript of his comments, he added that while the conversations are productive, the discussions are at an early stage.
Worldwide tourism takes a beating
According to data from the tourism authority, the tourism industry in Singapore has declined sharply in the first nine months of 2020. The number of international visitors decreased by 81.2% to just 2.7 million from a year ago and tourism revenues fell by 78.4% to 4.4 billion Singapore dollars (3.27 billion dollars).
The city-state has tried to set up an air travel bubble with Hong Kong earlier since last year. But it was delayed after Hong Kong reported a resurgence of new Covid-19 cases.
Last week, Singapore’s Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung told CNBC that the country is not giving up to establish the travel bubble deal with Hong Kong.
Singapore has allowed visitors from certain places, including Australia, New Zealand, mainland China and Taiwan, to skip quarantine if they meet certain requirements, such as a negative Covid-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test on arrival .