Big chill: blizzards blanket north-east US causing airport chaos
Flights to and from Boston were cancelled as the city’s airport closed in the face of a blizzard driven by 80kph winds.
Nearly 450 Aer Lingus passengers, who spent last night in hotels in Boston and Shannon, are hoping to be accommodated on flights today.
However, the storms that battered Boston, New York and Chicago, causing over a thousand cancelled flights and chaos in airports, could continue this morning.
Yesterday, the 11.15am Flight EI133 to Boston was cancelled as was the return Flight EI132 due in this morning.
Boston’s Logan International was closed yesterday morning because of whiteout conditions. Snowplough crews were unable to work in conditions which created drifts up to a metre high. Spokesman Phil Orlandella said there was no estimate when Logan would reopen.
“The wind is the problem,” Mr Orlandella said. “We’re unable to get out there and plough.”
On Saturday, the direct Dublin-New York flight and the return were cancelled. Passengers managed to travel yesterday on an extra plane put on by the company.
Nearly 500 flights were cancelled at New York’s Newark, Kennedy and LaGuardia airports, as well as about 700 that were grounded on Saturday after a cargo plane slid off the runway at Kennedy Airport.
Other flights to New York and Chicago were delayed by up to two hours.
Continental flights to Newark were also delayed over the weekend while Delta flights to Atlanta are operating normally.
Storm warnings were posted from Wisconsin to New England, as heavy snowfalls were reported in many areas. In Maine, temperatures fell to -38C.
About 400 flights were cancelled at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport on Saturday.
Aer Lingus is advising people there may be some delays today but to check in as normal.
Three deaths were linked to the weather in Ohio and two were blamed on the storm in Wisconsin.
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