Travel Week in Review – January 14th, 2022

Airlines in the United States have been forced to postpone more flights than usual during the holiday season because of a winter storm that hit the mid-Atlantic coast last week; this, along with a pandemic-related shortage of airline workers, has caused unprecedented disruption. According to flight-tracking service FlightAware, around 4,700 flights worldwide and over 3,000 in the United States have been canceled as of last Monday afternoon on the East Coast. Read More…

Hawaii has eliminated a step in its Safe Travels program for screening incoming arrivals to the Islands and also shortened the quarantine period for arriving travelers who do not receive an exemption. Travelers to Hawaii will no longer need to complete a health questionnaire on the Safe Travels platform within 24 hours of their departure. Additionally, the mandatory quarantine period has been reduced from 10 to five days for domestic U.S. travelers, according to a notice from the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA). Read More…

Short-haul flights between European cities have become increasingly common over the last few decades, popularized by the cheap, quick, and convenient offerings from low-cost regional carriers like EasyJet and Ryanair. But that will start to change this year. In an effort to shrink the region’s carbon output, governments across the European Union are imposing bans on short-haul flights, with new legislation taking effect as early as this spring. One country leading such measures is France. Read More…

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has raised Canada to its highest travel warning, telling Americans to “avoid” traveling there. The agency, which updates its list on a weekly basis, raised Canada to a “Level 4,” indicating a “very high” level of COVID-19 transmission in the country. “Because of the current situation in Canada, even fully vaccinated travelers may be at risk for getting and spreading COVID-19 variants,” the CDC wrote in its advisory. Read More…

Ireland is making it easier for vaccinated travelers to visit the Emerald Isle by eliminating the need to get a pre-departure COVID-19 test before departure. Going forward, travelers who have been fully vaccinated with an approved vaccine or who have contracted COVID-19 in the last six months and recovered will not have to show a pre-departure test, according to the country’s Department of Health. Read More…