Hurricane Matthew continues to cause problems for travelers, with about 4,500 flights cancelled estimated so far between 05 to 09 October, according to tracking service FlightAware.
According to Boston news, all flights to and from Orlando were cancelled Friday and half scrapped for Saturday. FlightAware expects that number to rise. Runways typically shut down when crosswinds reach much above 30 mph.
The impacted Florida airports include Myrtle Beach, Jacksonville, Orlando, Palm Beach, Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Daytona Beach.
Consequently, as the storm travels north, so do cancellations, with Atlanta, Charleston and Savannah taking the largest hits.
Airports in Southern Florida are reopening; however, with many flights resuming by midday.
In Florida, Orlando's world-famous theme parks, Disney World, Universal Studios and SeaWorld are all closed due to the storm.
Orlando's main airport remained closed throughout October 7th but a reduced schedule of flights started Saturday morning, October 9th. Other airports further North in the Carolinas are expected to reopen this Sunday, October 10th.
Travelers were advised not to go to the airport to wait out the storm.
Flights are expected to gradually resume this October 10 after a damage assessment has been made.
Miami and Fort Lauderdale airports suspended flights Thursday. Miami International Airport resumed flights October 7, but operations were slow and more than 300 flights were cancelled
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport also reopened.
Even the ground transportation was affected during the hurricane, Amtrak suspended rail service in the Southeast through Saturday. Greyhound buses stopped services to Florida and South Carolina until the storm passes.
The major airlines were offering waivers to change flights for affected flights in the Southeast.
Meanwhile, according to ABC7 NY, travelers can check the updates and travel alerts for the five largest U.S. airlines, as follows:
American Airlines: https://www.aa.com/travelalerts
Delta Air Lines: https://www.delta.com/content/www/en_US/traveling-with-us/advisories/hurricane-matthew.html
JetBlue Airways: https://www.jetblue.com/JetblueAlerts/WeatherUpdate.aspx?intcmpglobal_travelalert
Southwest Airlines: https://www.southwest.com/html/advisories/swa_travel_advisory_20168281475106509419.html
United Airlines: https://www.united.com/CMS/en-US/travel/news/Pages/travelnotices.aspx
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
