More than 2,000 flights have been canceled in the United States on Tuesday and Wednesday, and some airports in Florida were closed to prepare for the impact of hurricane Ianwhich is expected to make landfall in the state.
According to flight tracking website Flightaware.com, airlines in the United States canceled 367 flights on Tuesday and 1,748 on Wednesday.
About 1,800 flights within, to or from the United States were delayed on Tuesday.
Hurricane Ian entered the Gulf of Mexico in the United States on Tuesday and is expected to develop into a deadly Category 4 storm over warm Gulf waters, according to Eric Blake, a meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center.
Hurricane-force winds of up to 209 mph and up to 0.6 feet of rain are forecast for the Tampa area Wednesday morning through Thursday evening.
Tampa and St. Pete-Clearwater airports in southwest Florida suspended operations on Tuesday, while Sarasota Bradenton airport closed at 8:00 p.m. (0000 GMT) on Wednesday and Orlando airport at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Even Florida airports that weren’t closed suffered significant consequences. On Wednesday, airlines canceled more than 40% of flights at Miami International Airport.
Florida plays an important role in American aviation and several companies, including JetBlue Airways and Southwest Airlines, expect 40% or more of their daily flights to land at Florida airports.
JetBlue had canceled 24% of its Wednesday flights in the United States as of Tuesday afternoon, while Southwest had canceled 9%.
Southwest suspended operations in Havana, Cuba, on Tuesday and is also suspending service at some Florida airports.
The US Federal Aviation Administration said it was “closely monitoring” Hurricane Ian and its projected route.
Major US carriers have also halted part of their operations.
American Airlines
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