A major winter storm has caused the cancellation of more than 5,300 flights across the United States, with New York airports among the hardest hit. The 'historic' blizzard brought heavy snow, fierce winds and coastal flooding to the north-east coast on Sunday.
Delta, American and JetBlue have grounded numerous flights into hubs including JFK, LaGuardia, Newark and Boston Logan International until at least Monday evening. According to FlightAware, over 60 per cent of flights arriving at JFK and LaGuardia were cancelled on Sunday, with more than 3,000 inbound and outbound East Coast journeys also cut.
As of Monday morning, 96 per cent of flights into LaGuardia and 87 per cent into JFK were cancelled. Flights from London Heathrow have also been affected. Virgin Atlantic stated it is closely monitoring the situation and has allowed passengers to rebook travel free of charge until Thursday 26 February.
Global airlines including Emirates and Etihad have halted flights to or via New York until Tuesday. Blizzard warnings remain in effect for New York City, Long Island and Boston, with the US National Weather Service predicting up to 61 centimetres of additional snow and wind gusts up to 60 mph.
New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani declared a local state of emergency on Sunday, imposing a full travel ban until at least midday Monday. Schools are closed, and all streets, highways and bridges are shut to traffic. Airlines have issued travel advisories and are waiving change fees for affected passengers.
