Flight cancellations decline; limited opening of JFK, Newark

Super storm Sandy has led to the cancellation of about 19,500 flights since Saturday but cancellations are on the decline and two key East Coast airports reopened Wednesday.

John F. Kennedy International in New York and Newark Liberty International in New Jersey reopened Wednesday for limited service, but La Guardia International Airport in New York remains closed because of flooding.

It remains unclear when La Guardia will reopen and airline officials urged passengers to check on their flight status by phone or online before heading for an airport.

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The nation’s airlines have canceled 2,801 flights scheduled for Wednesday, a sharp decline compared to the 7,074 flights canceled on Tuesday and the 7,884 flights on Monday. Another 481 flights, mostly to the East Coast, have been canceled for Thursday, according to the flight monitoring site Flightaware.com.

Several key tunnels and bridges in the New York and New Jersey area reopened by Wednesday, including the Lincoln Tunnel and the George Washington Bridge. But the Holland Tunnel remained closed because of flooding.

The Federal Aviation Administration has posted a website with links to all the major airlines.

Most airlines have offered to waive the change fee and any increase in ticket prices to rebook tickets from canceled flights but the terms of such offers vary by airline.

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