Hurricane Helene: Closed airports and cancelled flights could hit holidaymakers

Airports remain closed and hundreds of flights have been cancelled across the southeastern US as “life-threatening” Hurricane Helene moves north across Florida and into Georgia.

At 8am UK time (3am Eastern Daylight Time), the National Hurricane Center said: “Helene continues to produce hurricane force winds that are moving further into Georgia.

“This is an dangerous and life-threatening situation. Persons should not leave their shelters and remain in place through the passage of these life-threatening conditions.”

Overnight the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, issued a warning that Hurricane Helene had been upgraded to a category 4 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph.

Tampa airport (TPA) remains closed. It closed at 7am UK time (2am local time) on Thursday, with passengers warned: “TPA, including the Main Terminal and Airsides, will not be open for public use and is not equipped to function as a shelter for people or vehicles.”

Hundreds of flights were cancelled on Thursday, including the British Airways flight from and to London Gatwick. Today’s service on the route is expected to operate as normal – assuming the airport reopens.

The Tampa authorities say they expect it to reopen on Friday “following a damage assessment that will begin as soon as it is safe to do so”.

The other three smaller airports in the Tampa-St Petersburg area are also closed.

The last passenger flight to leave Tallahassee, the Florida state capital, was a Delta flight to Atlanta just after midnight on Thursday. All flights since then have been cancelled. The airport is expected to remain closed until early afternoon on Friday, local time.

At Atlanta, normally the world’s busiest airport, dozens of Friday morning flights have been cancelled. Up to 8am at least 20 departures are grounded, with American Airlines, Delta, Frontier, Spirit and United all cancelling domestic flights. The corresponding arrivals are also cancelled.

From Europe, cancellations include Lufthansa from Frankfurt. But Delta and Virgin Atlantic links from London Heathrow are currently showing as scheduled.

International flights from Canada to Atlanta airport are grounded on Air Canada and WestJet, from Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg and Calgary. Some South American flights are also cancelled.

Because Atlanta is the world’s biggest hub, and Friday is the busiest day of the week, many travellers could find themselves stranded at the airport with very limited hotel options.

Amtrak, which runs long-distance rail services, has cancelled all its Florida trains on Thursday and Friday, including the Silver Service between New York and Miami. The Crescent, between New York, Atlanta and New Orleans is also cancelled.