More flights canceled at Sarasota and Tampa airports? See how many on Christmas Eve
Dozens of flight cancellations and delays hit area airports into the holiday weekend.
As of 11 a.m. Saturday, Tampa International Airport reported 58 cancellations and 145 delays.
Beau Zimmer, communications manager at the airport, said in an email that cancellations amounted to 13% of the 445 flights on Christmas Eve.
Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport reported 12 cancellations and 13 delays as of 7 a.m. on Christmas Eve.
Six of the cancellations were arriving and six were departing. These flights were traveling to and from Chicago, Grand Rapids, Detroit, Des Moines and Baltimore.
On the Friday before the holiday, travelers also had to deal with many flight cancellations.
At Tampa International Airport, 60 flights to the Midwest and East Coast were canceled by mid-day Friday, while another 92 planes have been delayed.
Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport reported 20 flight cancellations as of 11 a.m. Friday. The planes were en route to and from places hard hit by the winter storm, including Georgia, Michigan, and Maryland.
The travel problems come in the midst of a harsh storm that has impacted over 200 million people in the U.S., according to the National Weather Service.
Beau Zimmer, communications manager at Tampa International Airport, said in an email that cancellations accounted for 13% of their operations on Friday.
According to Tampa Bay 10, airport officials anticipate 75,000 passengers daily during the Christmas holiday.
Flight cancellations and delays are expected to continue to rise.
Sarasota-Bradenon Airport Operation Supervisor Richard VonIderstine said the airport is also experiencing flight delays, in addition to the cancellations.
“It’s not from our airport, it’s more of the destinations. It’s more from where travelers are coming from and where they are going to,” he said.
Aside from that, travelers heading to regions not affected by the storm are moving through the airport smoothly, VonIderstine said.
How to check your flight
▪ Travelers departing from Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport can check the status of their flights at https://flysrq.com/departures.
▪ Travelers departing from Tampa International Airport can view their flight changes at https://www.tampaairport.com/flight-status.
This story was originally published December 23, 2022 at 1:00 PM.
