Airlines around the world canceled more than 4,500 commercial flights over the Christmas weekend, as the rising tide of COVID-19, mainly the Omicron variant, created more uncertainty and difficulties for holiday travelers.
Airlines around the world canceled at least 2,401 flights yesterday, Christmas Eve, which is typically a busy day at airports, according to the FlightAware.com count. Nearly 10,000 more flights were delayed.
According to the same source, 1,779 flights were canceled worldwide on Christmas Day, as well as 402 more scheduled for tomorrow, Sunday.
Air traffic to and from the United States accounts for more than a quarter of all flights canceled this weekend, according to FlightAware.
Among the first US companies to announce a wave of cancellations over the Christmas weekend were United Airlines and Delta Air Lines, which together canceled nearly 280 flights yesterday alone, citing staff shortages amid a rising COVID-19 outbreak.
In recent days, cases of COVID-19 in the US have increased due to the highly contagious Omicron strain, which was first detected in November and now accounts for almost three-quarters of infections in the US, and even 90% of cases in some areas.
The average number of new coronavirus cases in the US has risen 45% to 179,000 per day last week, according to a Reuters count.
Yesterday alone, New York recorded more than 44,000 new confirmed infections, surpassing the state’s daily record. At least 10 other states set new records in 24 hours on Thursday or Friday.
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