Air travel

Flying getting safer

Last year was the safest year for air travel since 1945, according to Aviation Safety Network, a private online research group in the Netherlands. The world’s airlines reported only 23 accidents — including passenger and cargo flights — resulting in 475 fatalities in 2012, compared with the 10-year average of 34 accidents and 773 fatalities a year. The network’s database shows only two fatal commercial airline accidents in the U.S. last year, resulting in two deaths. The worst accident took place June 3 when a jetliner flown by Nigeria-based Dana Air crashed on approach to Lagos, killing 153 onboard and 10 people on the ground.

Poll: Most would pay for hot meals

Most airline passengers would pay for an in-flight hot meal — if only the airlines would bring back the service, according to a poll by Airfarewatchdog. In the poll of 1,221 respondents, 53 said “yes,” while 47 percent said “no way.” But how much would they be willing to pay? Twenty-nine percent said they would pay $5, 19 percent said $10, 5 percent said $15, and 3 percent said they would pay $20.

Turks and Caicos

Veranda resort temporarily closes

Turks and Caicos’ Veranda resort, which was recently acquired by Sandals Resorts International, has closed for renovations, according to Sandals Chairman Gordon “Butch” Stewart. Stewart cited “weak forward bookings” and a need to make “significant changes” to incorporate the resort into Sandals’ existing Beaches Turks and Caicos resort, Stewart said in an interview on the Caribbean New Now website. The resort is expected to reopen in March.

Poland

Record visitation

at Holocaust camp

The Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial site in southern Poland registered 1.43 million visitors last year, a record number in its 65-year history as a place of Holocaust remembrance.

For several years now, the grounds of the former Nazi death camp have registered record numbers of visitors. Numbers increased after Poland joined the European Union in 2004, a development that encouraged many people from across Europe to travel to Poland, and which opened up new air travel connections to the nearby city of Krakow.

Money

Cash-only for Vatican tourists

It’s “cash only” now for tourists at the Vatican wanting to pay for museum tickets, souvenirs and other services after Italy’s central bank decided to block electronic payments, including credit cards, at the tiny city-state. Newspapers reported that the Bank of Italy took the action because the Holy See has not yet fully complied with European Union safeguards against money laundering.

MIAMI HERALD WIRE SERVICES