The return to JFK is focused on the premium and business travelers between the east and west coast of the United States. It is a move that now allows the airline to provide air travel service from all three of the major New York airports.

“United’s return to JFK reflects not only our strong commitment to the New York City area, but also to increasing service to and from the places our customers want to fly,” said Ankit Gupta, Vice President of Domestic Network Planning and Scheduling. “With the addition of JFK, United now offers unmatched service, greater convenience, more choice and a best-in-class product for travelers throughout the New York City region as they return to the skies.”

This new service currently offers one round-trip flight, five days a week to each West Coast airport. United says that passengers can expect to see the number of flights double in the near future as the demand increases.

The premium cabins on these United Airlines flights feature flat-bed seats on all flights. This is similar to the current flight to Los Angeles and San Francisco from its hub in Newark.

According to the airline, amenities onboard the trans-con flights include the signature cooling gel pillow along with the Saks Fifth Avenue day blanket and pillow. Meal on the flights, offer seasonal menus crafted by renowned chefs and distinctive amenities.

These offering are available to travelers in United Business and United Premium Plus sections who enjoy a complimentary hot entrée, mixed nuts, salad and dessert, as well as complimentary alcoholic beverages.

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This is according to the German Chancellor Angela Merkel who said that all the 26 European Union member states had agreed to fully back it. According to the agreement, implementation could be over in three months.

Such good news couldn’t have arrived at a better time for the adventure-hungry tourists whose escapades had been halted by the Coronavirus. Summer holidays are a few months away, and with the Covid fatigue among tourists, the excitement of going on a European summer holiday is palpable already.

Still, travel restrictions may remain in place

The EU has been intensifying its Covid 19 vaccination drive even as it remains wary of possibilities of deadlier waves. Measures meant at easing travel restrictions across the bloc remain in limbo, thanks to new Covid 19 variants.

Equally coy about the resumption of free international travel in the summer is Priti Patel, the Home Secretary. According to him, summer could prove a little too soon for a holiday, owing to the erratic situation in the UK and across the EU.

But these travel restrictions notwithstanding, rolling out a single vaccine passport means that savvy vacationers could have a reason to start hunting for holiday destinations. Travel trials like PocDoc’s ‘fit to fly’ certificates at the Edinburgh Airport also signify the region’s tourists’ readiness as soon as the international borders open.

Massive travel bookings already taking place

Right now, every eager traveler is holding onto faith, hoping that UK premier Boris Johnson’s projections for a summer holiday from as early as May 17 come to fruition. Holiday bookings have been increasing tremendously, with EasyJet reporting a whopping 337% surge in ticket sales and a further 630% in holiday bookings.

It is clear, therefore, that maybe it isn’t too early to book a European post-Covid holiday. Greece is calling, much like the Swiss getaways, Spanish beaches, and several Asian and African vacation destinations.

The post Europe Holiday Bookings Surge as EU Agrees on Vaccine Passport appeared first on CitizenNewsWire.

On Sunday 7 December, a large part of the countryside and villages around Modena (Nonantola the most affected village), was completely flooded. The rupture of an embankment of the Panaro river is now causing many families to pass moments of fear and despair.

Houses full of water, impassable roads, 364 people evacuated with the help of rubber boats, and a lack of electricity in many areas.

The people of Modena are used to difficulties. Earthquakes and other floods have shaken this land several times in the past. Solidarity and hard work are repaying the suffering.

The 150 firefighters and almost 300 civil protection volunteers are working for hours without end, in the rain that never stops. The leak in the embankment was promptly repaired, but many people are still away from home or intent on saving what can be saved inside their houses.

Researchers and teachers from the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia immediately made themselves available to help Civil Protection in the technical-scientific field.

Fortunately, the leak has been closed and sealed. Additionally, the river is being constantly monitored to avoid further problems.

A step was also taken by the President of Emilia Romagna Stefano Bonaccini who promptly requested the State for the Recovery Fund in order to secure the territory, bearing in mind the enormous changes that occur due to climatic effects.

On 7 December, the residents of the affected municipalities awoke in the “yellow zone,” an area where travel would finally be granted. They could have gone to visit relatives or to shop in the city, but the tragedy struck them.

The anger is high and justified. Citizens have wondered why the alert came only when the water was already inside the houses and why public money has not been used in recent years to prevent these types of disasters.

Fortunately, thanks to all the people involved in the rescue, the safety rules for Covid were implemented and ad hoc shelters were created.Surely the Modena population will rise again to continue filling the world with its wonders.

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Since filming began on the superhero flick less than two months ago, Tom Holland, who plays the titular role of the web-slinger, and the rest of the crew from Marvel Studios, have been travelling across the US to various filming locations.

Despite a huge spike in coronavirus cases and deaths in the US, the production has been given the green light to continue filming – but with restrictions on what they can and cannot do.

However, members of the public have been sent into a fury over a certain allowance that was made this week in regard to a specific filming location.

For the previous two movies in the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe)’s spider man trilogy, Marvel has partnered with two local Atlanta high schools for scenes where Spider-Man lives out his daily life as his teenage alter ego, Peter Parker. And that partnership has continued for the third entry in the series.

Under normal circumstances this would be perfectly fine. But as you are probably sick of hearing at this point, these are confusing times (to quote the hulk himself).

Both parents and members of the local community were furious to hear that, while the schools themselves closed to students due to the pandemic, a Hollywood film crew is allowed to film there? It simply doesn’t make sense.

It’s reported that one of the schools was paid roughly $50,000 to allow the production to take place on their site. To a lot of outsiders, it seems like the schools are more interested in cash over preserving the future educations of their students, but that’s just one viewpoint.

As of the time of writing, Marvel Studios have yet to comment. Could production be halted if enough parents complain? Only time will tell…

The post Marvel’s ‘Spider-Man 3’ Production Sparks Outrage appeared first on CitizenNewsWire.

The gorgeous coastline stretches 130 kilometers from the vibrant Cancun to Tulum’s bohemian town, and it’s more than stunning beaches; it’s archeological sites, great restaurants, and an energetic nightlife.

Then COVID came in, and the region, whose economy relies on foreign tourism, was shut down. The global pandemic has been incredibly harmful to the touristic destination.

It has been even worse than the three hurricanes that hit its shores this year. The good news? The Mayan Riviera might be back on business soon.

Darío Flota Ocampo, Director in the Touristic Promotion Counsel for the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, where the Mayan Riviera is located, said everyone thought the region would be one of the first destinations to get back on its feet. But that hasn’t happened yet.

With America, Spain, France, and Italy experiencing second-wave coronavirus outbreaks, it seems this won’t be a Merry Christmas in the Yucatan peninsula. August saw 20% hotel bookings, and it has risen to 25% in the past months.

This is not so bad considering authorities allow only 30% occupation to comply with health measures and appropriate social distancing. It’s worth mentioning that half the occupation came from Mexican visitors.

There are 1,130 hotels in the Riviera Maya with over 100,000 rooms. 144,000 warm, friendly local people working in the region’s tourism industry are waiting for you with open arms.

This might not be the best moment for traveling abroad. But then again, who doesn’t need to bury their feet in the white sand and enjoy a Pina Colada under the sun?

Things won’t get better in the Riviera Maya until we ourselves make it better. And there’s more. Visiting the region right now has an upside – you’ll get the entire beach for yourself.

The post The Mayan Riviera Opens Its Doors for The Holidays appeared first on CitizenNewsWire.

The automated flight, 27 hours long, began with a dramatic night launch from Kennedy Space Center. The SpaceX capsule carrying 4 NASA astronauts then docked with the International Space Station late on Monday night.

Watch the SpaceX video replay of Crew Mission 1 Docking with the ISS below:

The connection occurred when the capsule was 262 miles above the Earth. Kate Rubins, on making the first radio contact to the dragon’s commander, remarked how pleasant it was to hear a human voice.

This is the second time that SpaceX has launched an astronaut crew to the ISS. The first mission in October was a test mission with 2 crew onboard. This mission, Crew Mission 1, was the first official crew delivery to the ISS and marks the beginning of a new future for American astronauts traveling into orbit and beyond.

The next replacement crew for ISS is planned in April. Until then, the astronauts, a Japanese and 3 Americans, will be staying in the orbit lab.

This new crew is now united the three already onboard the ISS, including 2 Russians and an American. One of the members of this week’s Hopkins crew, Glover, is the only African-American who went for such a long journey.

The 4 members of the crew have named the capsule ‘Resilience’, owed to the fact that times are really hard for the entire world due to pandemic, and this mission can serve as hope. There was a video broadcast on Monday displaying the storehouse, screen controls and the gravity indicator while touring their capsule.

For the launch, guests were kept to minimum due to coronavirus. Even the founder of SpaceX, Elon Musk didn’t join as he tweeted that he probably has an infection.

Instead, Elon Musk’s SpaceX was represented by Gwynne Shotwell, the president of SpaceX. While Elon Musk assured that he was quite involved, just a little remotely.

Dragon crew channeled the live streams showing views of New Zealand and the pacific almost 250 miles below when they were nearing the altitude to link-up. The SpaceX headquarters radioed saying that the view looks beautiful. 

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Gypsee is a new way to travel. Using this travel planning app, friends from across the U.S. will be able to schedule flights, hotels and activities with one low monthly subscription fee.

Users can select from a curated list of highly desirable locations within the U.S. and beyond. Instead of one person coordinating travel for a group, each individual traveler is responsible for their own payments.

This way there is no one person carrying the brunt of all the travel arrangements.

The Gypsee travel planning app allows subscribers to make payments towards their individual travel adventure. It will not make a difference where in the continental U.S. the subscriber lives, as the app will coordinate all flights among all subscribers. The goal will be for everyone to arrive on location within hours of one another.

Besides the individual payments made, subscribers will have the opportunity for special adventures – quests. These quests will provide opportunities to experience the new location, make new friends and see what being on a vacation should really be like.

Gypsee will eventually have a leader board for quests, and its own AI similar to Pokémon: Go, where subscribers will search for Gypsee’s official mascot. All of this, could soon make it one of the best travel planning apps out there – especially for group travel planning.

Plans are for Gypsee to be ready by January 2021. Early subscribers will be able to lock in vacation excursions in time for the collegiate Spring Break season. Special deals and offers will be made available to the first 100 subscribers.

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As an apparent second-wave of coronavirus cases emerged, many countries prepared to enact new lock-downs. The resurgence of these lock-downs, such as those in France, have resulted in a mass exodus. Many residents are racing to flee before the new lock-downs were implemented.

In other countries, where cases of the coronavirus are lower, an increasing amount of travel bubbles are emerging.  Also known as corona corridors, these are exclusive partnerships between friendly or neighboring countries. They allow for tourism industries, and in-person business meetings, to continue even in the face of COVID-19. 

Most recently, Japan and South Korea reached an agreement allowing short-term visitors. Individuals completing business trips, for example, are allowed to enter and leave each respective country without undergoing the mandatory two-week quarantine period.

However, in the case of long-term visitors, the quarantine is still required. Japan also has previous travel agreements with nine other Asian counties.

In Hawaii, the island state recently struck a deal with United Airlines removing the two-week quarantine requirement for tourists visiting on holiday. This waiver is only for airline passengers who passed rapid COVID-19 tests, provided by the airline, at their departure airport. The airline plans to expand the testing for passenger to other destinations, including Europe, very soon.

Other nations, such as Singapore, have spread their reach to countries such as New Zealand.

It is currently uncertain how the recent spike in global cases, especially those in parts of Europe, will affect the continuation of these travel bubble policies.

However, their existence and increasing popularity provide hope to many. This includes both those who are itching to explore new places, as well as the severely impacted travel industry looking to restore lost revenue.

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The WTTC- World travel and tourism council recently published the appalling stats regarding the probable loss of nearly 174 million tourism jobs by the end of 2020. This due to COVID-19 global pandemic and the resulting travel limitations imposed.

The possible efforts to curtail and restrict the virus have impacted catastrophically on the tourism sector. According to current and present-day economic data of WTTC, the travel restrictions worldwide would likely have a huge impact resulting in loss of 174 million jobs.

This shocking number is less than the previously stated estimates of 197 million jobs to be lost.

The tourism experts are of the belief that this improvement is the result of return of domestic travel in many areas. Some countries have also restored international travel and tourism.

The data states that the relaxation of domestic and international travel will drastically reduce the loss of jobs. 31 million jobs could be saved if the travel is brought back to normal domestically.  

Mexico is on the top of the list of the countries affected considering that 15.5 percent of its GDP is generated from travel and tourism.

The United States has already faced the loss of 18.6 million jobs.  $4.7 trillion from travel and tourism will not be contributed to the GDP, and will result in alarming 53 percent loss in 2020 as compared to 2019.

The devastating situation demanded a solution. Many other countries like New Zealand, Australia, UK, Lithuania and Estonia have all acted on the situation lifting the travel restrictions. They have reopened their borders for international travelers and tourists from some selected nations.

This large impact to the tourism sector can be saved by the WTTC recovery plan. The 100 Million Jobs Recovery Plan outlines the major, prime initiatives that will aid in strong and established international coordination for constructive operations and to the restoration of travel.

The post COVID-19 Crushing Impact on Travel and Tourism appeared first on CitizenNewsWire.

A group of engineers at Purdue University have developed an incredibly small rectangular micro robot which can travel through the human body to deliver medicine. Or they can be used as a diagnostic tool to report back on your health.

The robot as tiny as a few human hairs, according to the recent announcement by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Seen in this image of a penny, the micro-robot is the tiny speck smaller than the ‘U’ in United States.

Why are these Micro-Robots important?

Current medicines often have very negative side-effects. Much of this is due to the fact that the medicines travel throughout various areas of the body in order to reach their target. In this way, the medication can adversely impact other organs and body parts.

By placing the medicine onboard a tiny robot like this one, it can be programmed to wait until it reaches a very specific part of the body before releasing the medicine.

How do they work?

This first micro robot has been tested in live animals. It has been able to travel throughout a colon by essentially doing back flips. In the end, developers aim to use these robots eventually transport therapeutic drugs through the colons and other organs have rough terrain.

The tiny device derives its power from a magnetic field outside of the patient. Doctors would use the same field to control the robot – directing it to the target location.

“When we apply a rotating external magnetic field to these robots, they rotate just like a car tire would over rough terrain,” said David Cappelleri, a Purdue mechanical engineer. “The magnetic field also safely penetrates different types of mediums, which is important for using these robots in the human body.”

This video explains more about how the micro-robots work.

The NSF helped to fund this research. The work has been cited as the “first demonstration of a microrobot tumbling through a biological system in vivo.”

According to the study, the microrobots are nontoxic and biocompatible. They are made of polymer and metal.

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