1,400 flights grounded due to global Omicron Surge

COLOMBO(News 1st);As the week begins, there have been more Covid-19 related airline cancellations around the world, rounding off a horrible holiday season for thousands of travelers.

Close to 1,400 flights were canceled on Monday(27), with Chinese and US destinations taking the brunt of the losses, according to the FlightAware data tracking website.

Crews testing positive or isolating, according to US airlines, is the cause of the disturbance.

Following positive cases among some inbound travelers, Hong Kong has imposed a two-week ban on all Korean Air flights.

Over 8,000 flights have been canceled since the start of the long Christmas weekend on Friday(24).

Despite the fact that the number of cancellations is a small percentage of the total, it is greater than usual and comes at the most busiest festive time of the year, when many people travel to see loved ones.

Severe weather, on the other hand, is also a contributing factor. On Sunday, a blanket of snow in the western state of Washington delayed flights and hampered highways, adding to the travel misery.

Recorded Covid-19 cases are rising sharply around the world, largely driven by the Omicron variant.

The coronavirus has claimed the lives of about 5.4 million people globally. Nearly 280 million cases have been confirmed, sources from the Johns Hopkins University in the United States, confirmed.