Hurricane Ian forces airways to ax west Florida flights

Main Florida airports on Tuesday ready to halt flights forward of Hurricane Ian’s anticipated landfall in a single day.

Orlando Worldwide Airport stated it could droop operations at 10:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday. Tampa Worldwide Airport stated it could droop operations at 5 p.m. ET on Tuesday.

The Walt Disney Firm and Comcast’s Common Studios additionally stated they are going to shut their Orlando-based theme parks for at the least two days.

The Class 3 storm is anticipated to make landfall on the state’s Gulf Coast early Wednesday.

Delta, Southwest, American, United, Spirit and JetBlue stated they’re waiving flight change charges or fare variations for vacationers affected by the storm at airports all through Florida.

Officers at Southwest Florida Worldwide Airport, which serves the Fort Myers space, predict flight cancellations late Tuesday and all through Wednesday. They’ll maintain a name with carriers and the Federal Aviation Administration at 1 p.m. Tuesday to debate subsequent steps as Hurricane Ian approaches.

Southwest stated that it’s suspending operations Tuesday night via Thursday in Tampa, Sarasota and Fort Myers.

Airways usually transfer their planes out of a storm’s path forward of its arrival and cancel quite a few flights to keep away from stranding passengers and crews.

— CNBC’s Sarah Whitten contributed to this text.

Disclosure: Comcast is the dad or mum firm of NBCUniversal and CNBC.