Summer travel boom expected; hemp and CBD products cleared to fly

A robust economy has put Americans in the mood to travel this summer. Airlines for America, an industry trade group, said it expects more than 257 million people to fly between June 1 and the end of August — up 3.4% from the same period last year. Officials with the Transportation Security Administration are also preparing for a busy travel season. The agency is projecting that 263 million passengers and crew will pass through security checkpoints nationwide between the Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends. That's about 10 million more than last summer. The agency said on peak days, it could screen more than 2.7 million people. TSA officials are advising passengers to arrive two hours early for domestic flights and three hours in advance for international departures. TSA also recommends enrolling in its PreCheck program, which allows prescreened travelers to use special lines. You can check airport security wait times by using the MyTSA app. Go to awt.cbp.gov for customs wait times.

Washington Post

Heading out of town? Now your cannabis can come along, too. In an update to its website's "What Can I Bring?" section, the Transportation Security Administration clarified that FDA-approved hemp products, like certain CBD medications, are now allowed in both carry-on and checked bags. In the past, TSA did not differentiate between marijuana and other hemp derivatives and warned that cannabis products wouldn't be allowed in carry-on bags or checked luggage. Hemp, a form of the cannabis plant, contains only trace amounts of THC — the naturally occurring component in marijuana that produces a high. Cannabinoid oil, or CBD, can be extracted and processed from the hemp plant to be used for medicinal purposes.

Miami Herald

Tourists flocking to Paris for the 2024 Olympic Games won't be setting any records for the time it takes to get downtown from the airport. The French government has decided to delay works on a direct rail link between the capital city and the Charles de Gaulle airport, saying that pressing ahead to complete it by the end of 2023, as planned, would have been too disruptive for commuters. The lack of a high-speed link may take the shine off Paris' Olympic Games and delay a much-needed upgrade of an overburdened transportation network. Paris is one of the few major global cities with no dedicated rail link to its main airport, and the trip can take just under an hour, sometimes longer.

Bloomberg News

Who needs Disneyland when you have this new theme park offering: a re-creation of the 1997 fatal car crash of Diana, Princess of Wales? No, we're not kidding. The attraction can be found at the new National Enquirer Live in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., just a few miles from Dolly Parton's Dollywood. Among other exhibits related to stories the tabloid has covered, guests can look down at a computer-generated 3-D model of Paris, with the path of Diana's car shown via animation, according to the Daily Beast. Amusements impresario Robin Turner said the exhibit was tasteful and sensitively handled, with only computer animation at work. There's also a National Enquirer Live coming to Branson, Mo., in late June.

Los Angeles Times