In Travel News for January 3rd, 2023 we talk about the return of pandemic policies, who is the most on-time airline, and travel changes coming to the European Union in 2023
Delta the Most On-Time Airline for 2022
Flight data provider Cirium has provided flight data for 2022 and it shows which U.S. Airline has the distinction of being the most on-time. According to the Department of Transportation a flight is considered on-time if it has arrived within 15 minutes of the scheduled time. The airline that has the most on-time flights within the U.S. for 2022 is Delta Airlines with 84.1% of their flights arriving on time. The runners up are Alaska Airlines with 81.4%, United Airlines with 81.26% and American Airlines with 80.77%. Of the budget carriers SouthWest fared the best with a 74.6% rate, followed by Frontier with 68.9% and JetBlue with a 67.13%. Spirit Airlines, which is currently in the process of being purchased by JetBlue was not in the dataset. It’s important to note that the dataset used only runs through December 15th.
Changes Coming to the European Union
If you are planning on traveling to a European Union (EU) country this year, you may notice some changes when you arrive. The EU will begin collecting biometric data, including fingerprints and facial scans, from non-EU travelers starting in May. This new system is being implemented to replace the current manual process. In addition to providing biometric data, non-EU travelers will also be required to submit an application through the European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS) and pay a fee of 7 euros before their visit. These changes will go into effect in November.
COVID Policies Return for Travelers from China
For most of the summer and fall much of the world has been moving to eliminate pandemic safety measures. That’s now changing. Travelers returning from China to the United States will be required to provide proof of a negative COVID test, or proof of recover to be allowed to board their flights. This is in response to the huge spike in covid numbers following China’s rapid reversal of their zero covid policy, as well as lack of transparency of of epidemiological and viral genomic sequence data from the Chinese government. This applies to all travelers coming to the united states either directly, or indirectly from China, Hong Kong, and Macau.