Flight cancellations greet New Year due to storms, Omicron

In the Asia-Pacific region, about 3,700 flights were cancelled over the weekend, led by China Eastern Airlines Corp and Air China Ltd, as governments imposed stricter measures to curb the spread of Omicron. Some 970 flights are expected to be dropped in the region yesterday.

NEW YORK: Airlines greeted the New Year with more than 6,500 weekend cancellations in the United States, closing out a bumpy holiday season as a winter storm swept eastward and carriers dealt with staff shortages caused by the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.

Cancellations of flights into, out of and within the US reached 2,500 as of 5:25pm Sunday afternoon along with about 6,400 delays, according to the tracking firm FlightAware.com.