2,300 flights cancelled as Omicron hits holiday travel

More than 2,300 flights were cancelled around the world Friday and thousands more were delayed as the highly infectious Omicron variant disrupted holiday travel.

One route, however, was thankfully not affected: Santa was on track delivering presents to children across the globe, air defense officials assured US President Joe Biden.

According to tracking website Flightaware.com a total of 2,325 flights had been cancelled worldwide Friday as of 2015 GMT, including 616 flights originating from or headed to US airports, and more than 8,000 delayed.

Over 1,400 cancellations were announced for Saturday, Christmas Day, the site reported.

Pilots, flights attendants and other staff have been calling in sick or having to quarantine after exposure to Covid, forcing Lufthansa, Delta, United Airlines and many other carriers to cancel flights during one of the year’s peak travel periods.

According to Flightaware, United cancelled more than 185 flights on Friday, or 10 percent of those that were scheduled.

“The nationwide spike in Omicron cases this week has had a direct impact on our flight crews and the people who run our operation,” United said in a statement.

“As a result, we’ve unfortunately had to cancel some flights and are notifying impacted customers in advance of them coming to the airport,” the airline said, adding that it was working to rebook passengers.

Similarly, Delta cancelled at least 166 flights, saying it has “exhausted all options and resources -- including rerouting and substitutions of aircraft and crews to cover scheduled flying.”

“We apologize to our customers for the delay in their holiday travel plans,” the company said.

Eleven Alaska Airlines flights were axed, after employees said they were potentially exposed to Covid-19 and had to self-isolate in quarantine.

The cancellations added to the pandemic frustration for many Americans eager to reunite with their families over the holidays, after last year’s Christmas was severely curtailed.

- Huge travel bump -

According to estimates from the American Automobile Association, more than 109 million Americans were scheduled to travel by plane, train or automobile between December 23 and January 2, a 34 percent increase since last year.

But most of those plans were made before the outbreak of the Omicron variant, which has become the dominant strain in the United States, overwhelming some hospitals and healthcare workers.