Holiday air travel projected to rise

Holiday air travel projected to rise

A projected 38 million passengers will fly on U.S. carriers during the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, a 3 percent increase over last year, according to an airline trade group that attributes the rise to lower airfares and an improved economy.

The increase should result in about 73,000 more travelers a day from Friday to Jan. 3 over the same period last year, according to Airlines for America, a Washington-based trade group.

Airfares have fallen 4.3 percent for the first nine months of the year, the group said. That drop is mostly attributed to a steep decline in the price of fuel.

Airlines for American projects that the busiest travel days will be, in order: Jan. 3 (a Sunday), Dec. 18 (Friday) and Dec. 27 (Sunday). The lightest travel days should be Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

The number of passengers flying on U.S. carriers for the 17-day period is expected to range from 1.9 million to 2.4 million a day, the trade group said.

Geography quiz

Q. Nearly half of the population of South America lives in one country. Name it.

A. Brazil. Its estimated population for 2015 is about 203.7 million people, and the continent’s population is thought to be about 415 million.

Universal adds to Hollywood park

LOS ANGELES

Harry Potter fans won’t have to wait much longer for their Hogwarts letter.

Universal Studios Hollywood said last week that the Wizarding World of Harry Potter will open April 7.

The highly anticipated addition to the theme park will feature Hogwarts Castle and the wizard village of Hogsmeade, along with several of the shops and eateries featured in the books and movies.

The land will also include the park’s first outdoor coaster, called Flight of the Hippogriff, and the signature ride Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, which will be similar to one at Universal’s Orlando, Fla., theme park, but will also be enhanced by 3-D technology.

Fodor’s Go List

NEW YORk

Fodor’s Travel recently released its fifth annual Fodor’s Go List. The list highlights 25 can’t-miss spots that span six continents and 20 countries.

This year’s list incorporates everything from emerging destinations and new hotspots to noteworthy events and great values around the world.

For the first time, Fodor’s has selected a top destination for the year: Utah. With the newly expanded Park City, the largest single ski and snowboard resort in the U.S., five national parks, and experiences like viewing fossils at Dinosaur National Monument, rafting the Colorado River or staying at a working ranch, Utah will be the place to get outdoors next year.

View the complete list at www.fodors.com/go-list-2016.

Combined dispatches