EL AL | Atmosphere

In collaboration with

Check-in I Travel News & Updates

June Highlights

Consider this Are we there yet? Ever wondered why flight durations vary according to flight direction? Flight direction influences travel speed and length, according to whether the plane is flying eastward or westward. For geographical and geopolitical reasons, flights departing from Israel are mostly westward bound, and take longer than those arriving, i.e., those that are flying eastward. Jet streams traveling east to west at a height of 12 thousand meters above sea level are the main factor behind this phenomenon. Jet streams are caused by the temperature differences between the Equator and each of the Earth's poles. When a plane is flying eastward, time and petrol is saved thanks to faster jet stream currents, whereas when it flies westward, the plane flies lower (or higher, though less frequently) so that is doesn't have to fly against the weaker jet stream currents.

Post-Covid changes in travel patterns

Covid-19 restrictions ended a little more than a year ago, and the skies reopened. People went back to traveling the world and crossing borders. A new study conducted by the European Travel Commission (ETC) has analyzed travel patterns in Europe and found that the number one cause for concern among tourists nowadays, is the price and cost of their holiday and not health risks, as it was during the pandemic. The study also shows that for 18% of European travelers, good weather is the main criterion for choosing a holiday destination. According to Dr Eran Keter, senior lecturer in Tourism and Hotel Management at the Kinneret College on the Sea of Galilee who was involved in the study, “in 2021, at the height of the pandemic, last-minute bookings were

the norm; in 2022, there was a real travel boom - as if people were compensating for all the lost opportunities; in 2023 things are reverting to what they were pre-pandemic, and for European tourists, cost and price are back to being the most important criteria for choosing a destination over another”.

Photo: Ori Ackerman

The U.S. ends the last Covid travel barrier for foreign arrivals International passengers traveling to the United States no longer have to show proof of vaccination against Covid. All pandemic restrictions, in place since January 2020, have officially been dropped and neither federal agents nor tourists will be required to have been vaccinated in order to enter the country.

Zakynthos’ Shipwreck Bay will remain closed this summer The legendary beach on the Greek island of Zakynthos, Shipwreck Bay, will stay closed this summer due to the significant risk of landslides caused by the erosion of the surrounding cliffs. The decision was recommended by the Anti Seismic Planning and Protection Organisation (OASP) according to which “the solution to the problem should not penalize the island’s residents, neither financially nor logistically”. The bay is due to reopen next October.

The first boutique hotel in Rishon LeZion has opened its doors The Rephael House Hotel is located on Rishon LeZion’s Rothschild pedestrian main street, a stone’s throw from the city’s main nightlife venues and cultural points of interest. The hotel offers 30 rooms and one suite, all impeccably designed in accordance with the classic elegance of the edifice it lays in, built by the Baron de Rothschild and fully restored after years of serving as a municipal site.

6

ATMOSPHERE JUNE 2023