Just when the party would be getting started someone has to pull the plug. How many more of these announcement will we see before the end of the year???

Link

Japan's largest travel agency, Japan Travel Bureau (JTB), announced Wednesday it plans to cancel all tours that involve air travel around midnight on New Year's Eve on fears that Y2K-related problems could possibly impact air travel.

Tours that will have aircraft in the air at midnight or are scheduled to depart or arrive at airports within the hours around midnight local time will be canceled. JTB said it is taking the action because it can not be sure that safety at that time will be at the same level as other times.

The move by JTB is the first such decision made by any of Japan's major travel agencies although JTB's size and market share could lead others to follow suit.

JTB is unlikely to see any significant financial impact from the move. It reported around 6,000 customers were on such flights last year but recent reports from travel agents in Japan have said bookings for new year travel this year is at much lower levels than previous years.

Agencies have found the high prices and premiums being charged by hotel operators for rooms overseas at the end of 1999 have forced them to increase prices making such overseas vacations much more expensive.

-- y2k dave (xsdaa111@hotmail.com), July 24, 1999

Answers

I would suspect most such cancelations are 'insurance-driven' -- i.e. if their insurance company won't provide its standard coverage during this period, the event would necessarily have to be cancelled.

Can anyone verify or repute this suspicion?

-- Arnie Rimmer (Arnie_Rimmer@usa.net), July 24, 1999.

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