Sunday, July 31, 2016
Airfares cheapest in 1st quarter since ’10
U.S. airfares were the cheapest they’ve been since 2010 in the first quarter of 2016, the federal government said last week.
The average price of a domestic ticket dropped to $361 in the first quarter, down 7.8 percent from the same period in 2015, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
The fare data are adjusted for inflation and don’t include fees for optional services, such as baggage fees.
Cincinnati Zoo opens hippo exhibit
CINCINNATi
Hippos can be seen at the Cincinnati Zoo for the first time in 20 years with the opening of a new $7.5 million exhibit.
The recent opening of Hippo Cove featured the debut of 24-year-old Henry and 17-year-old Bibi. The exhibit consists of a 70,000-gallon pool with a waterfall and a 60-foot glass viewing area allowing visitors up-close views of the two hippos.
The messy nature of hippos was a challenge. Henry and Bibi each weigh more than 3,000 pounds and produce about 50 pounds of waste daily. But zoo officials constructed a 3,600-square-foot building with a water filtration system that captures about 90 percent of the waste by weight.
Disney headwear
Mickey Mouse is not the top cheese when it comes to headwear sales at Walt Disney World in Orlando. He’s not even in the runner-up slot.
Those honors go to products based on Minnie Mouse. The top-seller is a headband with the famed round black ears separated by Minnie’s trademark red-and-white polka dot bowl, said Steven Miller, merchandise communications manager.
The No. 2 best-seller is the Minnie design, only shinier. It’s made of sequins.
Geography quiz
Q. What is the world’s largest ocean?
A. Pacific Ocean. At about 60 million square miles, it’s roughly double the Atlantic’s 29.6 million square miles, which is No. 2.
Passenger count up
LAS VEGAS
Officials in Las Vegas are reporting another monthly increase in the number of people using McCarran International Airport in June, and say passenger traffic is up 5.6 percent for the first six months of 2016.
The Clark County Department of Aviation reported last week that more than 4.1 million arriving and departing passengers came through McCarran in June – up 5.7 percent from the same month in 2015.
So far this year, the nation’s ninth-busiest airport has tallied more than 23 million passengers.
That puts it on pace to host more than 4.5 million passengers than it handled last year.
The number of international passengers has been steady in the first half of 2016 compared with last year, at just over 1.7 million.
Combined dispatches