LaGuardia Airport Still Closed After Sandy; Airlines Expect Limited Reopen By Thursday
Airports along the eastern seaboard are reopening after Hurricane Sandy forced many to close.
However, New York's LaGuardia Airport remains closed.
Nearby Kennedy and Newark Liberty airports have reopened and began taking flights Wednesday morning. Both airports are operating under limited but stable operations.
According to the Associated Press, major flooding on the runway has caused LaGuardia to stay closed until it can be safely cleared.
The airport posted an alert message on their website stating: "Please be advised that LaGuardia Airport continues to recover from storm damage. LaGuardia Airport remains closed please contact you carrier for updates."
Hurricane Sandy caused over 100,000 flights to be delayed or canceled over its three day path through the U.S. FlightStats.com reported today that 2,695 flights have been canceled across the country with the figure likely to rise as more flights are stopped.
While many still remain stranded trying to reach their respective destinations, flight operations are slowly resuming to a normal level.
Depending on conditions, many airlines are estimating that LaGuardia will reopen with limited operation capability on Thursday, according to The Street.
Kent Powell, spokesperson for American Airlines, said on Wednesday: "Today we are on target to resume operations in most cities (among) the nine to 12 where the storm forced closings. It's entirely possible that the aftermath of the storm may force some additional delays and cancellations -- particularly at LGA, JFK and EWR -- where substantial flooding occurred. It will likely be Thursday before flying can resume at these three airports."
Until LaGuardia reopens, both Newark and JFK will be taking limited flights for the northeast.
The current estimated total destruction cost for Hurricane Sandy is $20 billion in damages.
