NORFOLK, Va. (WVEC) — Download the 13News Now app.
Several airlines canceled flights to and from Norfolk International Airport due to Hurricane Florence.
Southwest reported that all flights to and from Norfolk International would be canceled on Thursday and Friday. Allegiant tweeted that flights would be canceled starting Friday, and will resume on Monday, Sept. 17.
Norfolk International Airport tweeted Wednesday night that Frontier has also canceled all flights to and from the airport on Friday, Sept. 14 ahead of the storm and will not resume service until Sunday, Sept. 16.
Delta, American Airlines, and United have all made select cancellations to and from Norfolk International Airport as they watch the weather impacts from Hurricane Florence.
Nationwide, more than 990 flights have been canceled from Wednesday through Friday, flight-tracking service FlightAware counted as of 2:50 p.m. Nearly 235 were canceled Wednesday with another 506 already grounded for Thursday and 252 more for Friday. FlightAware's current tally only went through Friday, meaning preemptive cancellations already in the books for the weekend would push the total past 1,000.
Nearly all of those were tied to disruptions in the Carolinas, where Florence was still expected to make a direct hit despite a shifting track.
"We expect those numbers to rise significantly over the next 24 hours, as the storm approaches and airlines finalize their operations plans," FlightAware spokeswoman Sara Orsi said in a statement.
Looking forward to the rest of the week, Orsi added: "It’s really difficult to speculate this far out – however, based on current models, it’s likely that the biggest impact will be to the Charlotte airport, which is an American Airlines hub. If the storm continues its path inland, we could see disruption at Hartsfield-Jackson Intl (ATL)."
In the Carolinas, most airports along the coast have said schedules would be reduced Wednesday, with no flights at all expected to operate on Thursday or Friday.
That included South Carolina’s Charleston International Airport, the busiest along the coast of the Carolinas. Officials there said flights would wind down Wednesday and would not resume at least until Saturday.
In addition to Southwest, American – which operates one of its busiest hubs in Charlotte – had canceled more than 475 flights in the region through Friday, according to the carrier. Many of those were on regional affiliates that fly between Charlotte and smaller airports along the coast.
Every big carrier was waiving rebooking fees to the area. That would allow travelers in the area to try to find a seat on one of the flights still left on area schedules, or to move their travel until after the storm, without paying change fees that typically cost $200 or more.
The big question now for travelers is Florence’s track, which shifted slightly overnight Tuesday into Wednesday morning. The storm is still expected to hit the Carolina coast, but now appears likely to take a turn west toward Georgia – possibly stalling out over the region. Earlier in the week, it appeared as though Florence may move inland farther north, possibly near Washington, D.C.
Amtrak also was limiting service in the region. The rail carrier canceled a number of its trains that run through the South. Additionally, Amtrak said its Northeast Regional service will not run to Virginia destinations south of D.C. from Wednesday through Sunday.
USA TODAY contributed to this report.
