Delta Airlines and Caribbean Airlines (CAL) have cancelled all flights out of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri to the John F Kennedy Airport (JFK) as Hurricane Irene threatens New York and other parts of the US East Coast.
CAL in an advisory yesterday said that today’s BW 524 flight from Georgetown to New York (JKF) and the BW 525 flight from New York (JFK) to Georgetown have been cancelled. The airline said that it continues to monitor the situation closely. “Once we have received more information regarding the situation we will be able to give information about the afternoon and evening flights for Sunday, August 28,” the advisory added.
CAL apologized to all its customers for the inconvenience, pointing out that these cancellations are due to circumstances beyond their control. Passengers, the advisory said, are encouraged to visit the airline‘s website: www.caribbean-airlines.com or visit the Facebook Fan page for updates. It added that all flights can be checked using the flight status web page.
Stabroek News was unable to reach a local representative for Delta but was told that all flights into and out of Guyana have been cancelled at least up to the end of today.
According to an advisory on the airline‘s website: www.delta.com “Hurricane Irene is expected to impact travel to, from, and through the Caribbean and U.S. eastern coast.”
It advised that passengers check their flight status frequently for up-to-the-minute information about flight plans, or get updates sent directly to their wireless device or email with Delta Messenger. The advisory was last updated at 5 pm EDT.
According to the Weather Channel Irene poses an extraordinary threat and is increasingly affecting the eastern Mid-Atlantic and will then target eastern New York and New England over the next 24 to 36 hours. This article was updated at 5.20 EDT yesterday.
Hurricane Irene made landfall near Cape Lookout, North Carolina, just before 8 am EDT as an 85-mph, category 1 hurricane.
Irene is still a category 1 hurricane with winds of 80 mph.
The centre of Irene is located about 50 miles south-southeast of Norfolk, Virginia, and is moving to the north-northeast at nearly 13 miles per hour, the article said.
Meanwhile, Irene has caused the cancellation of hundreds of domestic flights and a few hundreds more internationally as the East Coast braces for it.
Hurricane warnings have been put out for several places including New York City.
