(CNN) — Staff shortages and storms are causing major disruptions to spring getaway plans in the United States and in Europe, but on the bright side, dozens of destinations are finally seeing a drop in their Covid-19 infection rates.
Here’s what happened in travel news this week.
Travel chaos in Europe
There have been major disruptions at airports across Britain this week. Staff shortages related to Covid have led to hundreds of flight delays and cancellations, with British Airways and easyJet customers the most affected. The nation is bang in the middle of Easter vacation season, and problems are expected to continue in the coming weeks.
There was a sharp rise in Covid infections in the United Kingdom after restrictions were lifted at the beginning of March, although this has begun to decline. British Airways, easyJet and Virgin Atlantic are among the UK airlines that have relaxed their mask mandates.
There was further woe as the Spanish Tourism Office in the UK apologized for incorrectly declaring on April 6 that unvaccinated UK citizens could now enter Spain restriction-free. This was down to a misinterpretation on the Tourism Office’s part — so it’s not just us civvies on the ground who get confused about governments’ Covid rules.
Staff shortages have also been behind huge security lines at Ireland’s Dublin Airport, with passengers now being advised to turn up three and a half hours before their flight. The situation got so bad on the weekend of March 26 that passengers were reporting having missed their flights after spending more than two hours getting through security.
Covid rates and restrictions
There was good news elsewhere, though, as more than two dozen destinations, including Canada and several Caribbean nations, saw declining risk levels on the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s travel advisory list.
Reflecting on Anthony Bourdain
A new CNN Films and HBO Max documentary about Anthony Bourdain premieres on CNN this Sunday, April 10.
“Roadrunner” recounts Bourdain’s journey from New York chef to acclaimed author and much-loved TV personality. It also reflects upon his 2018 suicide at the age of 61. CNN Travel spoke with director Morgan Neville about what he learned about Bourdain in making the film.
CNN Audio has also turned Bourdain’s “Parts Unknown” travel series into a podcast. New episodes drop each week, with the latest release being a 2015 trip to Marseille, France’s oldest city.
Aviation news
A rendering showing Condor’s new candy-colored striped aircraft.
Condor
China is getting into the hypersonic flight game with a new plane by Beijing-based Space Transportation, which hopes to be transporting passengers at twice the speed of Concorde by the 2030s.
If it works out, that means Shanghai to New York in just a couple of hours.
Meanwhile in Costa Rica, a plane slid off the runway and split in two.
World’s biggest plane destroyed
A CNN team first saw wreckage of the largest plane in the world after the Russian military withdrew from a strategic airfield outside Kyiv.
New images show the full extent of the damage to the Antonov An-225, the world’s largest commercial airplane. It was destroyed in late February as Russian troops seized an airfield near Kyiv that was one of the first strategic targets of their invasion of Ukraine.
In case you missed it
Before you think “karaoke and Prosecco,” note that it’s alcohol- and technology-free.
Think you could maneuver a 300-meter (984-foot) vessel across stormy seas and through narrow waterways?
Where the journey is part of the adventure.
Get set, travel
Packing for vacation can take a lot of preparation — and even more so if you’re currently carrying an extra passenger.
Our partners at CNN Underscored, a product reviews and recommendations guide owned by CNN, have put together this checklist of travel essentials if you, or someone you know, is flying while pregnant.
Top image: Travelers sit outside the Covid-19 test center at Terminal 3 of London Heathrow Airport on April 6, 2022. (Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images)
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