Air India has scrapped all its flights to and from New York City and Newark Liberty International Airport for both Monday, 23 February and Tuesday, 24 February, citing a powerful winter storm bearing down on the US East Coast that has forced widespread travel disruption and grounding of services. The airline said heavy snow, strong winds and hazardous conditions forecast across New York, New Jersey and adjoining states would significantly disrupt airport operations, prompting a precautionary halt to services to prioritise passenger and crew safety.
The cancellations form part of a wider aviation standstill triggered by one of the most intense nor’easter systems to sweep the Northeast this season. The National Weather Service has issued blizzard warnings stretching from Delaware through to Massachusetts, including the New York metropolitan area, where forecasters expect between 30 cm and 61 cm of snow, strong gusts and white-out conditions that threaten to make travel perilous. Municipal authorities have imposed travel bans on non-essential movement and activated emergency measures to cope with the storm’s impact.
Air India’s travel advisory advised travellers booked on affected services to contact the carrier’s support teams for rebooking and assistance, underscoring the airline’s efforts to manage disruption for customers despite the operational freeze. Dedicated ground teams have been deployed at airports to help passengers with alternative arrangements and support. The move mirrors actions by other international carriers, with Emirates and Etihad also cancelling flights to US destinations as the storm hobbles aviation corridors between the Middle East and the United States.
The storm system, dubbed a blizzard by weather authorities, has shut down road travel across much of the Northeast. New York City’s mayor has ordered a citywide ban on non-essential travel during peak weather, while neighbouring New Jersey and several states along the Eastern Seaboard have declared states of emergency, mobilising snow-clearing crews and National Guard units. Public transit services, including buses and commuter rail, face severe curtailments as snowfall rates surge.
Across the region, airports have reported thousands of flight cancellations and delays as shuddered operations ripple outward from the hardest-hit hubs. Alongside Air India’s transatlantic cancellations, major carriers have pulled back services at John F. Kennedy, LaGuardia and Boston Logan International Airports, where airlines have warned passengers to expect prolonged disruption as crews and infrastructure teams work to clear runways and de-ice aircraft.
The National Weather Service’s warnings reflect the storm’s scale. Blizzard alerts encompassing New York City mark the first of their kind in several years for the area, with forecasters noting that coastal flooding, damaging winds and snow loads that can down power lines are all present within the storm’s profile. Some jurisdictions are anticipating snow accumulations that could eclipse seasonal norms, heightening concerns over transportation and emergency response capabilities as attention turns to post-storm recovery.
The pattern of disruption emerging from this event follows a string of significant winter weather episodes across North America in recent weeks, including powerful storms earlier in the winter season that had already stressed transport networks and emergency services. This latest system’s timing and intensity compound logistical challenges for travellers and carriers alike, with airlines adjusting timetables, offering refunds and reshaping schedules as conditions evolve.
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