'Bomb Cyclone' Effect: East Coast Airport Closures, Thousands Of Flights Cancelled

As Winter Storm Grayson swept across the East Coast, depositing about 18 inches of snow from the Carolinas to Maine and bringing about record flooding on Thursday, an array of airports around the region cancelled and rescheduled their flights, causing inconveniences to air passengers across the globe.

According to FlightAware, the flight tracking site, nearly 5000 flights have been cancelled across the nation, with two-thirds of them accounting for the flights scheduled to and from New York City and Boston.

The storm which has been termed the "Bomb Cyclone," slammed into the Eastern seaboard yesterday, causing multiple airlines to announce flight cancellations. According to Biz Journals, Southwest Airlines have cancelled hundreds of flights to the East Coast; Delta Air Lines also followed suit and cancelled 400 flights from Northeast airports.

American Airlines, on the other hand, cancelled departures from Boston on Thursday because of strong winds and heavy snow.

Inbound and outbound air traffic from airports such as JFK, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty were drastically reduced as visibility neared zero due to the rapidly intensifying snowstorm.

The hurricane-like winds across the East Coast caused John F. Kennedy airport to suspend all its flights. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said flights will resume at 7 a.m. on Friday at JFK.

Although LaGuardia airport briefly suspended all flights, it reopened on Thursday night. Nevertheless, airport authorities advised flight passengers to contact their respective airlines about the scheduled flights before heading to the airport.

"Fliers are urged to check with their carriers before heading to the PA’s airports tomorrow," LaGuardia’s Twitter page said. "More than 90 percent of LGA flights, more than 70 percent of Newark Liberty flights and 20 percent of JFK flights already are cancelled due to snow forecast."

Newark Liberty airport posted similar advice on their social media feed as it was forced to cancel more than 70 percent of its flights on Thursday.

As cleaning staff struggled to clear the snow that piled up on the tarmac of Islip's Long Island MacArthur Airport, all flights were cancelled till Thursday midnight. A member of airport security told CNN the first inbound flight is expected Friday around 10 a.m. EST.

Charleston International airport in South Carolina also cancelled all its inbound and outbound flights, following "snow and ice cover." Airport authorities further added that after carefully assessing the conditions, they will decide whether late night arrivals on Friday will be canceled.

"The safety of our passengers, airlines and airport workers is our top priority as Charleston International Airport works to recover from the Jan. 3, 2018, winter storm. Road conditions make travel dangerous for workers and for aircraft to safely take off and land. As soon as it is safe, we will resume normal operations," Executive director and CEO of the Charleston County Aviation Authority Paul G. Campbell Jr. told NBC affiliated News 2.

Governors of Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, New Jersey and New York declared states of emergency, as thirteen states from South Carolina to Maine remained under a winter storm warning.