Airlines cancel more than 2,700 flights due to winter storm in US East Coast

Por Kanishka Singh

Jan 16 (Reuters) – Airlines canceled more than 2,700 flights in the United States on Sunday as a combination of strong winds and frost in a winter storm expected to hit the country’s east coast over the holiday weekend.

The canceled flights as of 12:30 p.m. ET (1730 GMT) on Sunday included more than 2,700 arrivals and departures from or within the United States, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware.com. According to statistics, more than 1,500 flights are running late.

American Airlines Group Inc had more than 600 flight cancellations. The FlightAware website showed that about 95% of flights were canceled from Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina, a hub for American Airlines.

American Airlines allows weather-affected customers to book flights for free.

The National Weather Service said a major winter storm would affect the eastern United States from Sunday through Monday. The highest snowfall was expected in the Appalachian spine as well as in the lower Great Lakes.

The NWS said the most significant frost was expected in the Carolinas, with effects traveling through those areas. According to the NWS, about 74 million people were on winter weather alert as of Saturday night.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp tweeted on Sunday that people should avoid non-essential travel to hurricane-hit areas. The governors of Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina declared states of emergency over the storm.

(Reporting by Kanishk Singh in Bengaluru, Edited in Spanish by Manuel Farias)