Toronto Pearson International Airport is warning travellers to be mindful of flight cancellations due to Hurricane Milton.
Anyone with a flight is advised to check their status before leaving for the airport.
“We’re continuing to monitor Hurricane Milton as the powerful storm moves towards Florida with an expected landfall in the next 24 hours,” wrote Toronto Pearson on X.
“Some Canadian airlines have released travel advisories and cancelled flights for [Wednesday] and [Thursday]. If your plans include travelling to Florida this week, we recommend you check your flight status with your airline.”
As of Wednesday morning, about eight flights to Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, and Tampa had been cancelled.
Porter Airlines cancelled all of its Florida flights for Wednesday and Thursday. The airline said passengers will be automatically rebooked later in the week.
“There may be further cancellations throughout the week as the storm makes landfall,” Porter Airlines wrote in a statement. “Complimentary flight changes are available on all Florida flights scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 9 and Thursday, Oct. 10.”
Flair Airlines announced it had cancelled all Thursday flights between Fort Lauderdale and Toronto Pearson and that Friday flights could also be impacted. On Wednesday, Orlando International Airport also confirmed that it had ceased commercial operations in anticipation of Hurricane Milton’s arrival.
Milton was at Category 4 status this morning after spending much of Tuesday as a Category 5 storm. It is threatening the Tampa Bay area, a major population centre home to more than 3.3 million people that has managed to evade a direct hit from a major hurricane for over 100 years.
Millions have been ordered to evacuate, and in the Tampa Bay area, counties are using multiple means of communication to urge people to leave vulnerable areas.
National Hurricane Center forecasters in the U.S. warned Milton is “expected to remain an extremely dangerous major hurricane” when it reaches Florida’s coast.
