In Travel News for October 3rd, 2022 we have an updates from Florida, Norwegian Cruse Line, and United Airlines.
Southwest Florida International Airport Unable to Reopen
Hurricane Ian recently hit Florida as a category 4 storm, originally making landfall on the gulf side of the state. While many airports have quickly started coming back online it looks like the Sothwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers won’t be one of them. The airport sustained heaver damage, and at the time of this filming the airport is still without running water or electricity. Officials are currently estimating that the airport will come back online late this week in a limited capacity. While not as large as airports in Miami or Orlando, Southwest Florida International Airport serves almost a million passengers each month. Having this airport out of service puts additional strain on other airports which have been working hard to return to full operations while working to eliminate passenger backlogs caused by the storm.
Norwegian Cruise Line Drops Pandemic Protocols
Norwegian Cruise Line has announced that they will be eliminating all pandemic protocols for travelers starting with sailings on or after October 4th. This follows a relaxing of restrictions in early September which allowed unvaccinated travelers to sail on Norwegian Cruse Line. This update means there will be no testing, vaccination, or mask requirements. Now, there is a catch. If a destination requires testing or vaccination then the rules of that destination will apply to the sailing. Looking over some of Norwegians itineraries sailing that dock with one of the following countries could face additional restrictions: Australia, Bermuda, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Costa Rica, Dubai, Fiji, Greece, Honduras, Israel, South Africa and Uruguay.
United to Exit JFK Airport in New York
In early September United Airlines requested additional capacity be made available to the airline for flights in and out of New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. If the request wasn’t granted then United said they would have no choice but to cease operations at JFK. Well it looks as if the request was denied so now United plans on ceasing operations at the airport after their last flights on October 29th. While this might sound like a big deal, United only operated about 4 flights a day out of the airport, most of their flights come out of Newark Liberty International Airport and LaGuardia Airport.