The Simon Bolivar International Airport in Maiquetia rounded up 1.1 million travelers during the entire holiday season, the terminal´s director, Jose David Cabello, told Caribbean News Digital. Mr. Cabello said some 700,000 people arrived in and departed from the Venezuela´s number-one airport on December 31 alone, up 17 percent from 2003. Effectiveness of airport operations at the Simon Bolivar terminal peaked 85 percent.

The number of passengers flown by Brazil´s airlines inside the country shot up 11.7 percent in 2004, a clear-cut token of recovery from one of the worst crises the local commercial aviation industry has ever endured, the Civil Aviation Department informed this week. The rebound of domestic flights happened together with a 12.2 percent spike in the amount of international air travels. Occupancy rates in inbound flights averaged 66 percent of all available seats, up six percentage points from 2003.

Celebrity Cruises redeployed its star ship, Century, to Europe for the summer 2005 season, bringing the company´s number of Europe-based ships to four and, thus, canceling the ship´s summer season in the Caribbean. The cruise company argued "steadily increasing demand" for Europe cruises was a deciding factor in the move. The Century will sail 12-day Baltic-region cruises from Amsterdam between May and August and offer cruises in the Balearic Islands and the Mediterranean before moving back to Fort Lauderdale.

USA3000 Airlines, a low-fare, full-service airline, has a new weekly scheduled service to Aruba from Chicago O´Hare. Flights are available for booking at USA3000.com and fares start at $199 per one-way segment plus taxes effective January 23rd, 2005. The airline offers low fares with simple rules: No round-trip ticket purchase or Saturday stay, one-year extensions in the event a passenger is unable to make the trip as originally purchased, and name changes are also possible.

Gulfstream International Airlines, a regional affiliate of Continental Airlines, will add a new service linking the Bahamas with South Florida beginning February 17. As part of the increased service, Continental Connection will inaugurate flights between Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Andros Town on the Bahamian island of Andros, with four roundtrip flights each week.

In the face of increasing need to help victims of the tsunamis that ripped South East Asia in late December, Spanish hotel chain Sol Meliá has created a hyperlink on its portal that relays surfers straight to the official website of the International Red Cross. The effort is intended to provide information on ways to channel donations and any other assistance to countries that were hit by the devastating seaquake.