In Travel News for January 13th, 2023 we have an update on the FAA outage earlier in the week, we talk about upcoming strikes in the European Union and United Kingdom, and we Viking unveils their World Cruise lineup.
Viking Unveils 2024-2025 World Cruises
Viking has release their World Cruise itineraries for 2024 and 2025 with stops in Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania (think Australia and New Zealand) and the Americas. The highlight of the collection is the new Viking World Voyage I, which is a 180-day round the world sailing, stopping in 85 ports across 37 countries, with overnight stays in 13 iconic cities. The voyage will depart from Fort Lauderdale on December 19, 2024 and will finish in New York City on June 17, 2025. Another around the world sailing, the slightly shorter Viking World Voyage II is also available, which is a 163-day voyage, departing from Los Angeles on January 5, 2025 and visiting a total of 29 countries and 78 ports before ultimately wrapping up in New York City. Additionally, there are also two other options, the 138-day Viking World Cruise itinerary, which sails from Fort Lauderdale to London, England; and the 121-day Viking World Journeys, which leaves from Los Angeles and visits 23 countries before ending in London.
More Strikes Across Europe
Holiday Travel in Europe was disrupted by widespread strikes, looking into 2023 it appears as if strikes will continue to affect travelers. Here are some of the upcoming strikes that travelers should be aware of: Union employee in France plan a nation wide day of strikes on January 19th with the goal stoping all transportation. Italy will face smaller strikes throughout the month that largely affect travel by rail. In Portugal the cabin crews of the Portuguese airline TAP will be going on strike for 7 days at the end of the month. In the United Kingdom at least 100,000 government workers, including border force workers, will be going on strike on February 1st. If you plan on traveling in the United Kingdom or Europe over the next few months it would be a good idea to consult with your Travel Advisor on how these strikes could affect your travels.
Update on FAA Grounding of Aircraft
Earlier this week the Notice to Air Mission system went down. This system alerts pilots to potential problems in the sky that could affect the safety of their aircraft. As a result of this system going down the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded all US aircraft. This of course caused all sorts of problems for travelers. NBC News is reporting that the cause of the issue has been identified. It appears as if a contract employee modified a file, and this modification created a ripple effect that took down the entire system. Access to the system has been limited since the incident and additional protocols are being put into place to protect against a repeat of this.