Where Can You Fly Right Now? Delta Surge Pops Asia’s Travel Bubbles
Air-travel corridors have largely been a letdown as nations constantly change rules and close borders to contain outbreaks.
People look out to planes readied for boarding at Singapore’s Changi airport.
Photographer: Roslan Rahman/AFP
Fresh lockdowns and restrictions in Asia brought on by the faster-spreading delta coronavirus variant are making the region’s pursuit of travel bubbles look like an increasingly fruitless endeavor.
Air-travel bubbles, corridors that allow movement between countries without the need for quarantine, have largely been a letdown as nations pull up the drawbridge again to contain outbreaks. A travel link between Singapore and Hong Kong, first mooted last year, has never actually gotten underway. Talks between Australia and Singapore are still ongoing while an arrangement between Australia and New Zealand has been stop-start at best and on Friday was halted for at least eight weeks.