You might not have to put your phone on airplane mode on EU flights + This year’s World Cup fans are a spendy bunch
Europe is bidding airplane mode farewell but the US is still spooked: The European Commission moved to green light airlines to provide 5G technology on their planes allowing passengers to use their phones on flights, The Washington Post reports. Across the pond, the US still fears 5G will interfere with planes and limit cell carriers’ access to the frequency around airports. Earlier this year flights were canceled or diverted on concerns that 5G antennas on the ground would interfere with airplane equipment.
People rambling on their phones during flights is another concern: Other than technical concerns, forcing passengers to put their phones on airplane mode (or switching them off) was helping to keep airplanes quieter. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently ended a 2013 regulatory proceeding that would have allowed passengers to make calls and send texts on US airlines, Reuters reports. Airline pilots and flight attendants stood in staunch opposition to the proceeding.
The luxury travel market isn’t going to tank amid rising inflation — with wealthy travelers to thank. As soaring inflation rates across the globe has some in the tourism and aviation industries concerned about a downturn in travel activity, the wealthiest travels appear to be more than ready to earmark more of their spending on trips, according to an American Express and Altiant report picked up by Bloomberg. The report finds that 60% of wealthy travelers intend to spend more on travel next year than they do on purchasing material goods while only 10% said they’ll cut back.
What does this mean for climate concerns from all those planes? The report — which surveyed 1.2k high-net-worth travelers concentrated in Asia, Europe and the Americas — showed that travelers are becoming more aware of carbon emissions, with 70% of respondents saying that seeing carbon emissions data on their flights or vacation choices “is very or somewhat influential in their booking decisions.” Nearly half of those surveyed indicated their intention to take more environmentally friendly vacations, with 81% of Chinese travelers fully on board with this decision — even if it meant paying a little bit extra.
Fans at the World Cup in Qatar are on track to spend record amounts at tournament venues, Bloomberg reports. Fans have already spent more than they did at the 2014 Brazil World Cup and 89% of what they spent in Russia in 2018, with 10 more days to go before the end of the tournament, according to data from payment partner Visa. The data tracks spending on its cards at all World Cup venues from the beginning of the event through 2 December. Payments on merchandise made up nearly half of total spending while spending on food and beverages made up 36%, despite ethanolic beer being banned. Fans at the Saudi v Mexico group stage match spent the most overall. Qatar expects the championship will net revenues of USD 17 bn for the country’s economy — far eclipsing the USD 4.5 bn brought in at the 2018 tournament.