The Hong Kong-Singapore Air Travel Bubble (ATB), scheduled to be launched on November 22, will be deferred for two weeks due to an upsurge in COVID-19 cases in Hong Kong.

Announcing the deferral this afternoon, Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Edward Yau said the decision was made after a discussion between the governments of both places, adding the formal launch will be announced in due course.

"In light of the recent upsurge of local (COVID-19) cases, we have decided together with the Singapore government that we will defer the launching of the Air Travel Bubble by two weeks."

To cope with possible fluctuation in the epidemic situation, the ATB has a built-in mechanism whereby the number of designated flights may be increased, decreased or even suspended depending on the situation.

"In the interest of making a good start and also avoiding any confusion to passengers, we have decided to put this back for two weeks. Doing this is necessary to avoid any inconvenience caused by the abrupt changes of the scheme to passengers, particularly those who need to return to Hong Kong in a short time.

"We will, of course, review the situation and keep each other well informed of the epidemic situation and decide the way forward. We will make further announcement, perhaps by early December, on the formal launching of the scheme."