More than 4,500 flights were canceled around the world by yesterday and thousands more were delayed as the highly infectious Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 disrupted holiday travel, tracking Web site Flightaware showed.
At least 2,000 flights were canceled worldwide on Christmas Day, including about 700 originating from or headed to US airports, with more than 1,500 delays.
On Friday, there were about 2,400 cancelations and almost 11,000 delays, while more than 600 cancelations were reported for today, the site showed.
Photo: Bloomberg
Pilots, flight attendants and other staff have been calling in sick or having to quarantine after exposure to COVID-19, forcing Lufthansa AG, Delta Air Lines Inc, United Airlines Inc and many other carriers to cancel flights during one of the year’s peak travel periods.
Flightaware data showed that United canceled about 200 flights on Friday and yesterday each, or 10 percent of those that were scheduled.
“The nationwide spike in Omicron cases this week has had a direct impact on our flight crews and the people who run our operation,” United said in a statement on Friday.
“As a result, we’ve unfortunately had to cancel some flights and are notifying impacted customers in advance of them coming to the airport,” the airline said, adding that it was working to rebook passengers.
Similarly, Delta yesterday canceled at least 260 flights, after canceling about 170 on Friday, saying that it has “exhausted all options and resources — including rerouting and substitutions of aircraft and crews to cover scheduled flying.”
“We apologize to our customers for the delay in their holiday travel plans,” the company said.
Eleven Alaska Airlines flights were axed, after employees reported that they had potentially been exposed to COVID-19 and had to self-isolate.
The cancelations added to many Americans’ COVID-19 frustration at a time when they were eager to reunite with their families over the holidays, after last year’s Christmas was severely curtailed.
Chinese airlines accounted for the highest number of cancelations, with China Eastern Airlines Corp (中國東方航空) scrapping about 480 flights, or more than 20 percent of its flight plan, and Air China Ltd (中國國際航空) grounding 15 percent of its total scheduled departures yesterday.
The American Automobile Association estimated that more than 109 million Americans were scheduled to travel by plane, train or vehicle between Thursday and Sunday next week, a 34 percent increase since last year.
However, most of those plans were made before the emergence of the Omicron variant, which has become the dominant strain in the US, overwhelming some hospitals and healthcare workers
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-Wong tomorrow, which it said would possibly make landfall near central Taiwan. As of 2am yesterday, Fung-Wong was about 1,760km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving west-northwest at 26kph. It is forecast to reach Luzon in the northern Philippines by tomorrow, the CWA said. After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Fung-Wong is likely to turn northward toward Taiwan, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said, adding that it would likely make landfall near central Taiwan. The CWA expects to issue a land
Taiwan’s exports soared to an all-time high of US$61.8 billion last month, surging 49.7 percent from a year earlier, as the global frenzy for artificial intelligence (AI) applications and new consumer electronics powered shipments of high-tech goods, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. It was the first time exports had exceeded the US$60 billion mark, fueled by the global boom in AI development that has significantly boosted Taiwanese companies across the international supply chain, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing. “There is a consensus among major AI players that the upcycle is still in its early stage,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it is expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong this afternoon and a land warning tomorrow. As of 1pm, the storm was about 1,070km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving west-northwest at 28 to 32kph, according to CWA data. The storm had a radius of 250km, with maximum sustained winds of 173kph and gusts reaching 209kph, the CWA added. The storm is forecast to pass near Luzon in the Philippines before entering the South China Sea and potentially turning northward toward Taiwan, the CWA said. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi yesterday said that China using armed force against Taiwan could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, allowing the country to mobilize the Japanese armed forces under its security laws. Takaichi made the remarks during a parliamentary session while responding to a question about whether a "Taiwan contingency" involving a Chinese naval blockade would qualify as a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, according to a report by Japan’s Asahi Shimbun. "If warships are used and other armed actions are involved, I believe this could constitute a survival-threatening situation," Takaichi was quoted as saying in the report. Under Japan’s security legislation,
RSS