Air travel continued to suffer disruptions on Saturday in the United States after bad weather in several regions of the country added to the disruptions caused by the increase in covid infections caused by the omicron variant.
As of 21h00 GMT, 2,584 flights had been cancelled in the United States: more than half of the cancellations worldwide, according to the FlightAware website.
In addition, 3,271 domestic flights were delayed on Saturday in the country, out of a total of 7,381 worldwide. The most affected U.S. airline was Southwest, which had to cancel 13% of its flight schedule, according to FlightAware.
Airports in Chicago (north) were particularly hard hit by the difficult weather conditions, with a snowstorm expected in the region on Saturday evening.
The extremely contagious variant of the omicron coronavirus continues to disrupt global air travel. Numerous pilots and staff members contracted covid-19 or were in close contact with infected people, forcing airlines to cancel flights due to staff shortages.
Some 7,500 flights were cancelled by airlines worldwide over the Christmas weekend.
