“The military will make available some of it’s airspace over the East Coast for civilian airspace this Thanksgiving,” Bush said this week. For five days, airspace not used for conventional traveling will be open to all from Maine to Florida. The decision is expected to impact large hubs like Atlanta and New York, but not so much in Charlotte.”Our real problems are the [Transportation Security Administration] and not being able to through people at the check points which can result in huge lines and the air traffic system that can’t handle the volume,” said Jerry Orr with Charlotte-Douglas International Airport.

AAA expects a record 39 million people will travel 50 miles or more in the next few weeks for holiday plans, so President George Bush has ordered several steps be taken to reduce air traffic congestion and long air travel delays.The FAA hopes to re-route airspace and try to use more direct routes for takeoffs and landings. Bush announced that there will be a holiday halt on non-essential maintenance projects so the FAA can be staffed and focused. To address the volume or congestion problems at places like Charlotte-Douglas, the Federal Aviation Administration is planning to cut back on non-essential flights, trying to make things more efficient.

President Bush announced several steps Thursday aimed at easing air travel congestion for the millions of holiday travelers who will head into the increasingly unfriendly skies next week, including the use of a “Thanksgiving express lane” for commercial airlines.It’s kind of a mess up there and at the airports, Bush said in a White House statement.”Airports are very crowded, travelers are being stranded and flights are delayed, sometimes with a full load of passengers sitting on the runway for hours,” Bush said after meeting with Transportation Secretary Mary Peters and acting Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Bobby Sturgell.Bush’s moves include:Freeing up military airspace along the East Coast for use by commercial flights during the five-day Thanksgiving weekend and possibly at Christmas.

Declaring a moratorium on nonessential FAA projects during the holidays to allow agency personnel and equipment to concentrate on alleviating delays.Encouraging airlines to add staff, seats and planes to relieve holiday congestion. Bush said airlines have agreed to take the steps, including bringing in more ticket kiosks and rolling staircases.Bush also said the FAA will use its Web site to offer updates on flight delays.”We are determined not to let airline delays turn holiday cheer into runway gloom,” Peters said.The amount of airspace for planes flying in and out of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport won’t change, but holiday travelers with East Coast destinations could benefit from the increased airspace there, said Roland Herwig, spokesman for the FAA Southwest Region.Other elements of the plan and promised cooperation from the airline industry are not aimed at a specific region but are intended to improve flights for everyone, Herwig said. “It should affect Austin in an increased service to the traveling public.”

For the travel industry, the over-55s represent a goldmine of opportunities, and tour packages that offer therapeutic getaways is one of the ideas that could appeal to the silver generation. Pua Song Kuan, 70, and Tung Kheng Hock, 72, have been to over 20 places between them since they retired nearly a decade ago.

China is a firm favourite for both, but Mr Pua counted Zimbabwe among his more unusual destinations. “I’m travelling while I still can because I’m so old already. If I like the food in a place, then why not go (there)?” said Mr. Pua. Mr Tung agreed. “I’m okay with spending the money. My daughter gives me money to go travelling, she says I’m so old already, (I) should travel more.”

The silver population is making an impact on the travel industry. Bigger players such as Commonwealth Travel (CTC Holidays) and SA Tours reported a marked increase in business. SA Tours said it has seen a 20 per cent growth in the number of elderly customers in the past year, with its China packages seeing a 30 per cent growth.
Some companies said although the numbers are too small to warrant elderly-specific packages, they have slowed the pace of the tours for them. Some travel agencies such as Commonwealth Travel will advise elderly customers of potential health risks, and may even request they go for a medical check-up before signing up.

One industry player said the health concerns of the elderly can also be a business opportunity. “Many of them are beginning to look at alternative (medical), health tourism. I’ve heard of people who must go back to Europe every year, going up to the Alps for some… therapeutic treatment and all that.

If you can cater products to meet this demand, I think there is a very, very good pool of senior travellers in Singapore who can provide three or four times travel a year, so I think that’s a very very important market not to be missed,” said Insight Vacations’ Asia regional director Robin Yap.

Travel spending by domestic and international visitors in 2008 is forecast to increase 5.2 percent, to $778.2 billion, up from projected full-year 2007 travel spending of $740 billion, which would be a 5.7 percent increase over 2006.Domestic leisure trips are expected to continue an upward trend of modest growth in 2008, climbing 2 percent to 1.6 billion trips.

Domestic leisure trips are expected to finish 2007 up 2.5 percent over last year.Travel for business in 2008 is expected to remain stable, increasing by 0.4 percent, registering nearly 502 million trips. This slight increase will offset a projected decline of 1.7 percent in business travel for 2007, compared with a year ago.International travel (including visitors from Canada and Mexico) to the United States is expected to rise 3.7 percent in 2008 to 55.6 million visitors, following a projected 5.1 percent increase for 2007.

However, the year-over-year data mask an 11 percent decline in overseas visitors to the U.S. from 2000 – 2007. Overseas travelers, primarily from Western Europe and Japan, represent the United States’ top inbound visitors and spend the most money. Although overseas travel is expected to increase slightly in 2007, it has yet to surpass the 2000 level, despite the weak dollar making the U.S. a travel bargain.