Travelore News: First Direct Israel-UAE Flight Lands In Abu Dhabi Amid Deal

A screen displaying flight number of Israeli flag carrier El Al's airliner which will carry Israeli and U.S. delegations to Abu Dhabi for talks meant to put final touches on the normalization deal between the United Arab Emirates and Israel, at Ben Gurion Airport, near Tel Aviv, Israel Monday, Aug. 31, 2020. (Nir Elias/Pool Photo via AP)

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A Star of David-adorned El Al plane flew from Israel to the United Arab Emirates on Monday, carrying a high-ranking American and Israeli delegation to Abu Dhabi in the first-ever direct commercial passenger flight between the two countries.

The Israeli flag carrier’s flight marked the implementation of the historic U.S.-brokered deal to normalize relations between the two nations and solidifies the long-clandestine ties between them that have evolved over years of shared enmity toward Iran.

With the U.S. as matchmaker, Israel and the Emirates agreed earlier this month to work toward normalization, which would make it the third Arab nation to have full relations with Israel, after Egypt and Jordan. Unlike those two nations, Israel has never fought a war against the UAE and hopes to have much-warmer relations.

The American delegation included President Donald Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, as well as national security adviser Robert O’Brien. Israel was represented by national security adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat and other top officials.

At an airport ceremony in Abu Dhabi, Kushner called the visit a “historic breakthrough” and expressed hope this “will be the first of many” such flights.

“There is great urgency between the people of both countries to break down old barriers, to get to know each other, to form new and hopefully very deep friendships,” he said.

State television in Abu Dhabi broke into its broadcast to show the airplane on the tarmac and aired the comments of all officials, including Ben-Shabbat, who spoke in Arabic and Hebrew. No Emirati officials spoke at the ceremony.

“We came here in broad daylight and before the eyes of all in a plane bearing the flag of Israel along with our American friends,” Ben-Shabbat said. “Israel and the UAE have much in common. Our region is full of challenges and threats. But we have the strength and the ability to stand against them.”

The El Al flight, numbered LY971 after the UAE’s international calling code number, flew into Saudi Arabian airspace shortly after takeoff and later passed over the capital, Riyadh. That marked another historic first for Israel and signaled acquiescence by the kingdom for the UAE’s move.

“They were very gracious to allow us to fly over their airspace, which they’ve never done before, for an Israeli commercial plane,” Kushner said.

He said he would be traveling to Saudi Arabia after the visit. Kushner and other officials have said they hope more Arab nations will follow the UAE in establishing ties with Israel, even without a peace agreement with the Palestinians.

Saudi King Salman, along with other Gulf Arab leaders to varying degrees, maintain their boycotts of Israel in support of Palestinians obtaining an independent state. Any regular flights between Israel and the UAE would require Saudi clearance to be profitable. Otherwise the three hour, 20 minute flight would have taken more than seven hours.

The plane was decorated with the the words for peace in Arabic, Hebrew and English above the pilot’s window.

The Israeli delegation will stay in the capital, Abu Dhabi, for one night before returning home on El Al flight LY972, a reference to Israel’s international calling code.

Private jets have earlier flown between the two nations as part of covert talks, and Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways flew cargo freighters to Israel before to deliver coronavirus aid to the Palestinians. But the high-profile flight Monday looked to place a solid stamp on the surprise Aug. 13 White House announcement of Israel and the UAE establishing ties.

Since then, telephone calls were connected, and the UAE’s ruler issued a decree formally ending the country’s decades-long boycott of Israel. Some Israeli firms have already signed deals with Emirati counterparts, and Monday’s visit is expected to usher in further business cooperation.

The UAE has touted the deal as a tool to force Israel into halting its contentious plan to annex parts of the West Bank sought by the Palestinians for their future state. It also may help the Emirates acquire advanced U.S. weapons systems that have been previously unattainable, such as the F-35 fighter jet. Currently, Israel is the only country in the region with the stealth warplanes.

The Palestinians, however, have fiercely opposed the normalization as peeling away one of their few advantages in moribund peace talks with Israel. Palestinians have held public protests and burned the UAE flag in anger.

In the West Bank, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said it was “very painful” to see the flight take place. He also criticized El Al for picking a plane named for Kiryat Gat, a southern Israeli city built near the ruins of what were once Arab villages before the 1948 establishment of Israel.

During the Arab-Israeli war at that time, thousands of Egyptian troops were encircled by Israeli forces, including future Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser.

“It hurts us very much today when an Israeli plane lands in the Emirates, under the flight name Kiryat Gat, the settlement which was built on the occupied Palestinian lands of the town of Fallujah in which Gamal Abdel Nasser was trapped, in a clear and a blatant violation of the Arab position toward the Arab-Israeli conflict,” he said.

Shtayyeh’s government has severed ties with the U.S. and rejected Trump’s Mideast plan, saying it unfairly favors Israel.

In a reference to the Palestinians, Kushner said “the very few who have been critical of this peace agreement are the ones with a long track record of failure and trapping their people in misery and poverty.”

But he also said he sent a message of “hope” to the Palestinians.

Full Coverage: Israel

“When they are ready, the whole region is very excited to help lift them up and move them forward. But they can’t be stuck in the past,” he said.

Israelis eagerly anticipate the prospect of mutual embassies, expanding tourism to the Gulf and solidifying business opportunities with another country that shares its penchant for technology and innovation.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has touted the deal as validation of his vision that regional peace doesn’t require Palestinian acquiescence or come at the cost of ceding land.

But he has come under fire from supporters at home for seemingly giving up on dreams of annexation and tacitly agreeing to the F-35 sale that could undermine Israel’s regional superiority. Kushner reiterated the U.S. commitment to maintaining Israel’s qualitative military advantage over its Arab neighbors.

For Trump, the accord delivers a key foreign policy victory as he faces a tough reelection campaign. It also helps solidify an emerging anti-Iran alliance that includes Israel and pro-Western Arab governments.

“Right now the biggest threat we see in the region is Iran,” Kushner said.

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Follow Aron Heller on Twitter at www.twitter.com/aronhellerap.

Face Masks Amid The Art: New York City’s Museums To Reopen

A man walks past a banner by artist Yoko Ono at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2020, in New York. Ono's two banners on the front of the museum say "Dream Together." The museum will reopen to the public on Aug. 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

NEW YORK (AP) — When the iconic T. Rex at the American Museum of Natural History again welcomes visitors, it will gaze down at humans acting a bit differently.

They will still gape up at its massive skeleton, but there will be fewer of them. They’ll stand farther apart and wear masks. Other pandemic precautions will include hand sanitizer stations and one-way signs guiding guests through exhibits.

The museum is like many cultural institutions in the city gingerly reopening their doors, weighing the safety of visitors and staff with the need to educate, inspire and support New York’s recovery.

“We have to re-imagine and re-engineer the museum visit,” says museum President Ellen Futter. “We want to fulfill our civic mission. And we think that our mission has never been more important.”

New York City was by far the hardest-hit U.S. city by the pandemic. It’s also home to world-class cultural institutions that have for decades — and city leaders hope will once again — draw millions.

The Museum of Modern Art opens Thursday, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art reopens its Upper East Side home on Saturday. The American Museum of Natural History plans to reopen to the public Sept. 9.

City museums will institute a range of precautions, including reduced hours, reserved tickets, mandating masks, limiting attendance to a quarter of capacity, and closing movie theaters, coat rooms and food courts.

Some of the new rules might make future trips to a museum less spontaneous and escapist, but there are some benefits.

“It’s true that it will be less crowded. It also will be more intimate and it may give people a different view of things. I don’t think that will diminish in the least the sense of the visit,” said Futter.

Other institutions need a bit more time. The Guggenheim will reopen on Oct. 3, while the 9/11 Memorial Museum will reopen on the anniversary of the terrorist attacks.

Whether anyone will come is the big question.

“There are a lot of unknowns out there. We don’t know whether people will feel comfortable coming back. We don’t know whether they’ll feel comfortable being with several hundred people indoors, even if we’re a very large space,” said Glenn Lowry, MoMA’s director.

“We ardently believe that people will want to come back to museums and to see the things that are both familiar and unfamiliar — see the things that animate their mind, that make them feel alive.”

Welcoming back visitors is also a chance to end months of lost ticket sales. Each facility has different financial models but for those that rely heavily on attendance, the pandemic has been crippling. The Natural History Museum alone has lost as much as $120 million.

While MoMA is looking at “significant losses” for up to three years, it has decided not to charge visitors for the first month. “It just felt like the right gesture,” said Lowry. “I think once you’ve lost a lot of money, losing a little bit more isn’t really the big issue.”

To add to the financial burden, most museums have been forced to pay for safety upgrades, like more staff, touchless bathrooms and costly air filtration systems.

Full Coverage: Entertainment

“Every institution is having to look long and hard at their financial model and scale back, postponing and canceling programs and events while simultaneously pushing forward on all fundraising cylinders,” said Regan Grusy, vice president of strategic partnerships at the New Museum.

The pandemic hit only a few months after MoMA reopened in October following a $450 million expansion. Back then, visitors were greeted in the lobby with an enormous Haim Steinbach banner that read: “Hello. Again.” It’s been replaced: Now they’ll see a Milton Glaser piece that reads “I (HEART) NY.”

“This is a moment to assert the resurgence of New York,” said Lowry. “New York has gone from this huge magnet of tourism to being a city that’s just about itself because the tourists aren’t around. So with all of that, we felt this was a more powerful welcome.”

The Metropolitan Museum of Art was one of the first in the city to close and, with no federal guidance, stepped up to help lead a working group of about 25 museums in the city sharing information and creating protocols.

“The question we all face is, ‘How long will we have to limit the numbers of visitors?’ If the answer is ‘Five years,’ it would be devastating,” said Met President and CEO Daniel Weiss.

His institution has even taken on COVID-19 with art: The Met sells face masks with floral details from paintings in its collection by Claude Monet and Vincent van Gogh. “We’re trying to make the best of it,” said Weiss.

The Corona neighborhood in Queens was one the hardest-hit sections of the hardest-hit city. Yet it is home to a museum not built for pandemics — the hands-on, highly interactive New York Hall of Science.

The Hall prides itself on being a place where children engage with the exhibits — controlling mock space rovers, exploring digital environments and experimenting with circuits. It is not willing to change its goals and go touchless or remove exhibitions. It hopes to reopen next spring.

“We’re not going to back off of our core approach and core methodology,” said Margaret Honey, president and CEO. “We believe that the world will return to doing those kinds of activities when it’s safe to do so. And when it’s safe to do so is really going to depend on vaccines and treatments. And, of course, a willing public.”

Though the doors are closed, the Hall hasn’t been silent. It’s helped donate thousands of meals, turned a parking lot into a drive-in movie theater, encouraged research and hosted a mobile testing site on campus.

Like many museums, it has put many new resources and access to its offerings online, accelerating a pre-pandemic trend.

“This is the time to think about the limitless possibilities when time and space mean something completely different,” said Grusy.

When the Hall of Science does open, it will have a new exhibit exploring the different ways cultures experience happiness.

It will be called The Happiness Experiment, and Honey is tickled by the notion. “I love the idea of reopening with an exhibit that’s focusing on happiness.”

Over in Manhattan, the silent T. Rex at the Natural History museum may actually put the pandemic into perspective. It reminds visitors they are part of a churning evolution.

“We’ve seen great challenges and really deeply disturbing times before, but we’ll get through this,” said Futter. “And the museum reopening is part of that for us, for our visitors and for the city. And we’re very excited about it.”

___

Mark Kennedy is at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits

Delta Has Banned Nearly 250 Passengers For Refusing To Wear Masks

(CNN) — Delta Airlines' mask policy is not a suggestion, it's mandatory. Passengers refusing to abide by the rule to keep masks on at all times (save eating or drinking) don't get to fly with Delta. It's just that simple.

As of August 27, Delta said it has banned roughly 240 people from flying with the carrier.

"Although rare, we continue to put passengers who refuse to follow the required face-covering rules on our no-fly list," says Delta CEO Ed Bastian in an internal memo to employees shared with CNN.

The memo celebrates the opening of Delta's new Salt Lake City hub and included references to the airline's current state of affairs, its continued growth and the considerable impact that Covid-19 has had on managing the health and safety of staff and passengers.

"Systemwide, we continue to identify opportunities to speed up our airport projects and position Delta to lead in the recovery with world-class facilities that will help us transform the customer experience," writes Bastian.

Masked skies

From compulsory mask rules to keeping middle seats empty and the reduction or elimination of food and drink service, struggling airlines are doing what they can to reduce the spread of coronavirus while trying to stay in business.

And make no mistake: Many, like Delta, couldn't be more serious about following through with their pledges in the time of Covid-19.

Delta Airlines continues to provide service for passengers, provided they wear a mask on board the aircraft.

David McNew/Getty Images

Since the advent of the policy, which Delta began implementing in June, the number of passengers on the no-fly list has more than doubled in less than a month. Bastian told CNN on August 7, "We've had well over 100 people that have refused to keep their mask on during the flight."

The federal government has not implemented mask-wearing regulations, unlike the enforceable requirements around wearing seatbelts and not smoking on planes. This leaves it up to airlines to police passenger behavior, which has resulted in stringent new policies.

Passengers who decide to break the mask-wearing rules face consequences -- like banning those passengers from future flights.

In the employee memo, Bastian said: "As we all work toward the recovery, it's vital that we continue to stay focused on the drive to provide the safest, cleanest airports, aircraft and workspaces possible."

Source: https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/delta-airlines-no-fly-list-tops-240/index.html

Germany To End Mandatory Tests For Travelers, Bans Protests

BERLIN (AP) — Germany will end mandatory coronavirus tests for travelers returning from high-risk areas abroad and again focus its testing strategy on people with symptoms or possible exposure to COVID-19 patients, the country’s health minister said Wednesday.

Health Minister Jens Spahn said that over the summer vacation period the number of virus tests performed in Germany nearly doubled, to 900,000 per week, in part to identify people who caught the virus during trips abroad.

People coming home from coronavirus risk areas were offered free tests at airports, train stations and highway stops, allowing them to cut short the required two-week quarantine if their result came back negative.

Travelers returning from high-risk areas, which include most countries outside the European Union and some regions inside the bloc, will in the future be required to go into mandatory quarantines for at least five days before taking a test, which may no longer be free unless ordered by a doctor.

“With the end of the vacation period ... this risk is going down again,” Spahn told reporters in Berlin. “We have to focus more on patients with symptoms and those who had contact with COVID patients.”

Spahn did not say when exactly the testing strategy would change, but it is likely that that decision will be made at a meeting on Thursday between Chancellor Angela Merkel and the country’s 16 state governors.

The change in the country’s testing strategy is also due to Germany’s labs reaching the limits of their capacities, Spahn said.

The operators of Frankfurt Airport, Germany’s biggest, criticized the decision to focus on quarantining, rather than testing travelers.

Stefan Schulte, the chief executive of Fraport, said the move amounted to a second lockdown for the airline and travel industries. He called on the government to instead improve the existing system of testing travelers from high-risk areas rather than to dismantled it again.

On Wednesday, Germany’s disease control center reported 1,576 new confirmed coronavirus cases. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the country has reported 236,429 cases and 9,280 virus-related deaths. The average age of infected individuals has declined to 32 from around age 50 at the beginning of the pandemic.

More younger people becoming infected means that fewer COVID-19 patients ended up hospitalized, but “we want to avoid that (the virus) will reach those groups that are especially vulnerable,” Spahn said.

Late Tuesday, the parties in Germany’s governing coalition agreed to extend short-work measures introduced due to the pandemic until the end of next year, with the government supporting companies using the strategy to avoid layoffs with around 10 billion euros ($11.8 billion) in tax money.

In further developments, organizers canceled plans for a large concert with Bryan Adams in Duesseldorf on Sept. 4, while in Berlin authorities banned several protests planned for the weekend against coronavirus pandemic measures.

Officials said that those protesting would likely have breached rules on social distancing designed to stop the spread of the virus. Germany has seen an upswing in new confirmed cases in recent weeks, and the government is considering whether to impose fresh restrictions again.

Authorities in the capital cited a rally against COVID-19 restrictions on Aug. 1 during which participants ignored mask-wearing and distancing rules and other conditions imposed on the protest.

Berlin’s top security official, Andreas Geisel, welcomed the decision.

“We need to weigh the basic right of freedom of assembly against the sanctity of life,” he said. “We chose life.”

Geisel said police would act to stop any large gathering of people and indicated that authorities wouldn’t tolerate a tent camp that protesters have erected near the German parliament.

“I’m not prepared to accept that Berlin is abused a second time as a stage for corona deniers ... and right-wing extremists,” he said.

Numerous leading figures in the country’s far-right scene, including members of the Alternative for Germany party, had announced they would participate in rallies in Berlin on Saturday.

The party’s leader in the Berlin state assembly, Georg Pazderski, criticized the decision to ban the protests, calling it disproportionate and unjustified.

The organizer of one of the protests has said they will appeal the ban.

Travelers Lost About $900K At Airport Checkpoints Last Year

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents help travelers place their bags through the 3-D scanner at the Miami International Airport on May 21, 2019 in Miami, Florida. TSA has begun using the new 3-D computed tomography (CT) scanner in a checkpoint lane to detect explosives and other prohibited items that may be inside carry-on bags. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Travelers left behind nearly a million dollars at U.S. airport security checkpoints last year, including about $19,000 in foreign currency, a newspaper reported Friday.

A Transportation Security Administration report said travelers lost $926,000 at 75 airports in the year that ended in September, The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported. Federal regulators say much of the lost money came from people emptying their pockets for security scans.

The paper says the largest sums were lost at airports in New York, San Francisco, Miami, Las Vegas and Dallas. At the newspaper’s hometown Pittsburgh International Airport, travelers parted with $5,000 .

The Transportation Security Administration suggests putting cash into carry-on bags, and reminds travelers who have lost money that they can contact the TSA’s lost-and-found office at the airport.

Silversea’s Silver Spirit First Luxury Ship To Sail With New Infection Prevention Certificate

Silversea Silver Spirit has become the first ultra-luxury cruise ship in the world to sail with a certification in infection prevention for maritime (CIP-M).

The certification was given by the DNV GL, the world’s leading classification society.

The certification of Silversea shows just how dedicated the six-star cruise line is to sanitisation and infection control on board its ships – following the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The CIP-M programme is built on DNV GL Healthcare’s expertise in infection risk management.

The programme was developed using experience from over 4,000 audits in more than 640 hospitals worldwide, with experts from DNV GL Maritime’s Cruise Center in Miami and leading medical professionals tailoring the existing infection prevention programme for hospitals to meet the needs of the maritime industry.

The programme is built on a unique combination of technical maritime knowledge and infection prevention expertise. Currently, it is the most comprehensive infection prevention certification available in the maritime industry.

The three-year certification is tailored specifically to Silver Spirit, and was only awarded after a close audit of all its operations.

The audit focuses on cruise line’s Covid-19 outbreak prevention and response plan, infection prevention leadership and communication flow, medical equipment management and infection risk management processes.

Silversea president and CEO, Roberto Martinoli, said:

“We are proud to become the first ultra-luxury cruise line to gain the certification in infection prevention for maritime, demonstrating our unwavering commitment to protecting the health, safety and wellbeing of our guests, crew and the destinations we visit.”

“Informed by the work of the Royal Caribbean Group’s Healthy Sail Panel, we are working hard to enhance our already exceptional sanitation procedures on board.

“Beginning with Silver Spirit, we will continue to work with DNV GL to gain certification across the rest of our fleet to provide the safest possible conditions for our healthy return to sailing, when the time is right to do so.”

Silversea is currently still in operation, having launched its newest ship Silver Moon this month.

Source: https://www.cruisetradenews.com/silversea-silver-spirit-becomes-first-luxury-cruise-ship-to-sail-with-new-infection-prevention-certificate/

Six Philadelphia Hotels Offering Free Nights And Discounted Rates Perfect for Long Weekends & Mid-Week Escapes To Recharge, Reconnect, Disconnect And Celebrate

PHILADELPHIA – Philadelphia hotels are offering free nights and discounted rates to help locals and visitors explore the region safely and responsibly once again. Those looking to recharge, reconnect, disconnect and celebrate have plenty of options to do just that at several popular Center City hotels. These deals are perfect for enjoying the city as major attractions reopen and indoor dining in Philadelphia returns on September 8th (Reservations are suggested for dining and cultural activities). Take a look at six enticing offers available right now:

Package Name: Suite Life

Hotel: Four Seasons Philadelphia Hotel at Comcast Center
Package Overview: Guests who book a suite 14 days in advance enjoy 20% off their stay.
Available: Through December 30, 2020
Book: fourseasons.com/philadelphia  

Package Name: Half-off Offer
Hotel: Renaissance Philadelphia Downtown
Package Overview: Those who book one night, get a second night at 50% off.
Available: Through December 30, 2020

Book: marriott.com

Package Name: Half-off Offer
Hotel: Marriott Philadelphia Old City
Package Overview: Book one night, get a second night at 50% off.
Available: Through December 30, 2020

Book: marriott.com

Package Name: More Space for Less
Hotel: Loews Philadelphia Hotel
Package Overview: This deal offers a second room (of equal or lesser value) at 50% off.
Available: Through December 31, 2020
Book: loewshotels.com/philadelphia-hotel

Package Name: Stay Close
Hotel: Sofitel Philadelphia Rittenhouse Square
Package Overview: Visitors who stay one night get a second night free. Those who stay two nights, get two nights free. And on and on.
Available: Through 2020
Book: sofitel-philadelphia.com

Package Name: Rediscover Philadelphia
Hotel: The Study at University City
Package Overview: Guests who book two nights score a third night free, plus free parking.
Available: Through March 31, 2021
Book: thestudy@universitycity.com

About VISIT PHILADELPHIA:

VISIT PHILADELPHIA is our name and our mission. As the region’s official tourism marketing agency, we build Greater Philadelphia’s image, drive visitation and boost the economy.

On Greater Philadelphia’s official visitor website and blog, visitphilly.com and uwishunu.com, visitors can explore things to do, upcoming events, themed itineraries and hotel packages. Compelling photography and videos, interactive maps and detailed visitor information make the sites effective trip-planning tools. Along with Visit Philly social media channels, the online platforms communicate directly with consumers. Travelers can also call and stop into the Independence Visitor Center for additional information and tickets. 6^th & Market Streets, (800) 537-7676