Airlines are beginning to cancel flights into and out of Florida and Georgia as Hurricane Helene makes its way toward the Gulf Coast.
More than 400 flights to and from Tampa International Airport that were scheduled for Thursday have been canceled as of about 4 p.m. Wednesday, according to flight data tracker FlightAware. That’s the vast majority of Tampa’s scheduled inbound and outbound flights scheduled for Thursday, according to FlightAware.
Tampa’s airport will close to the public at 2 a.m. Thursday, and will reopen when it is safe to do so, according to an update posted to the airport’s account on X, formerly Twitter.
Dozens of flights cumulatively also have been canceled into and out of Southwest Florida International in Fort Myers, Sarasota-Bradenton International and Tallahassee International.
All four areas — Tampa, Fort Myers, Tallahassee and Sarasota — are under a hurricane watch, and expected to see major rainfall as the storm makes landfall Thursday evening. The storm is projected to arrive in Florida as a Category 3 hurricane or higher, with wind speeds potentially reaching 120 mph.
Southwest has canceled more than 160 flights scheduled for Thursday so far, FlightAware data show. The airline issued a travel advisory for customers traveling in several southeastern cities through Friday, including Fort Myers, Tampa, Jacksonville and Pensacola, as well as Atlanta, Savannah and Nashville. Customers traveling to, from or through the listed cities can rebook or travel standby without paying additional charges.
Delta Air Lines has canceled more than 60 flights Thursday as of about 4 p.m. Wednesday. It also issued a travel advisory for flights traveling to, from or through several destinations in the forecasted path of the storm between Wednesday and Friday. Affected cities include Valdosta, Key West, Daytona Beach, Jacksonville and Hilton Head Island, among others.
United, JetBlue and Frontier had each canceled more than 40 flights scheduled for Thursday, as of Wednesday afternoon. Delta Air Lines has canceled more than 60 flights Thursday as of about 4 p.m. Wednesday.
So far, more than 60 flights into or out of Hartsfield-Jackson International have been canceled for Thursday, according to FlightAware.
Helene, the eighth named storm of this year’s hurricane season, is also forecast to bring rain to Georgia over the next few days.
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