Airlines

Dorian's wrath causes cancellation of more than 1,400 flights

Key Points
  • Airports in the Bahamas and Florida began closing as Hurricane Dorian began pounding the region.
  • In all, airlines had announced more than 1,400 cancellations in and out of the U.S., with many attributable to the Category 4 storm.
The information board displays all the cancelled flights at the Fort Lauderdale International airport ahead of the arrival of hurricane Dorian at ForT Lauderdale, Florida on September 2, 2019.
Michele Eve Sandberg | AFP | Getty Images

Hurricane Dorian played havoc with air travel, forcing multiple airports to close until at least Tuesday and contributing heavily to more than 1,400 U.S. flight cancellations.

As the Category 4 storm cut a swath through the Bahamas and pounded the southeastern seaboard, airports in the region began closing as part of pattern that likely will ripple along the East Coast.

As of about 12:05 a.m. ET. Tuesday, 1,484 flights into and out of the U.S. had been canceled and 3,964 had been delayed, according to listings on Flight Aware.

Satellite imagery shows Hurricane Dorian storm surge sweeping over Bahamas
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Satellite imagery shows Hurricane Dorian storm surge sweeping over Bahamas

Among the U.S. airports that had shuttered completely were Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, which is listed as closed until Tuesday at noon. Palm Beach International Airport is also closed until Tuesday.

Orlando Intenational Airport plans to cease its operations at 2 a.m. ET Tuesday, according to a notice on its Twitter account.

The 242 departures canceled at Fort Lauderdale represented 63% of the facility's total. Orlando Sanford cut 28% of its flights.

As far as individual airlines went, Spirit had the highest tally with 271 cancellations, while JetBlue cut 225 and Southwest cut 150.

Miami International Airport remained open, but the airport warned travelers to check with airlines as some flights in and out of the area may be canceled.

According to local media reports, Freeport-Grand Bahama International Airport is currently under several feet of water.

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— Correction: This story has been updated to correctly reflect the cancellation of flights departing from Fort Lauderdale and Orlando Sanford.